


The Blue Spirit

by ItsaVikingThing



Series: Korrasami Month 2017 [3]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Also guns because contemporary setting, Being mentored by her past lives, Contemporary Setting, F/F, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Korra is a fledgling hero, Korra's arms are central to the plot, Korrasami Month 2017, Past Life Echoes, Quite a lot of canon appropriate violence, Raava has food cravings, Reporter!Asami, Should that be Aangst?, Some angst, quite a lot of fluff, superhero au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-12
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2019-02-01 01:30:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 124,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12694245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItsaVikingThing/pseuds/ItsaVikingThing
Summary: Korra is just an ordinary twenty-something trying to not screw up her new job.Making that tricky is the fact that she's also recently discovered that she's connected to Raava, the spirit of light, and that she has superhuman powers. And ghosts who live in her head and like to pop up and give her advice while she's trying to fight crime.Opal Beifong is a young socialite with a movie star boyfriend and seemingly no cares in the world. Until she gets targeted by an underworld organisation called the Red Lotus...Asami Sato is Opal's friend, and a reporter for the Republic City Chronicle. And she thinks that there might be a connection between the Red Lotus and the mysterious vigilante who has recently become active. She's determined to find the truth about this mysterious vigilante, whatever it takes.





	1. Pilot

Korra wakes up at 3am when a man's voice says, "Red Lotus, Korra."

Korra is alone in her bedroom. As always. 

She finds she has a powerful craving for cream cheese and a sense of impending violence is in the air.

She groans. "Every night this week...and I've got work in a few hours..."

She wants to bury her head under the pillow and go back to sleep. She knows that she can't do that.

She _won't_ do that.

Korra grimaces. She climbs out of bed, reluctance and aching muscles giving way to the adrenaline that's already flooding her system.

Korra ties her hair back in a ponytail. She opens her closet, digs out her old gym bag, and opens it up. She dresses quickly in jogging trousers, a hoodie, gloves and a scarf she pulls up over her nose.

It's not much of a disguise, but putting in more effort would make everything...too real.

Korra values being able to believe that she's just been having a series of vivid nightmares.

She leaves her apartment by the fire escape, goes up, rather than down, and breaks into a light jog when she gets onto the rooftop. She vaults across the alley onto the roof of the opposite building. She lands, rolls, and comes up sprinting.

She has a feeling that this is going to be a bad one. She has a feeling that she doesn't have much time.

She has a feeling that she's going to be hitting that bagel place on the way to work for breakfast.

None of those are _Korra's_ feelings. Not...exactly. _Korra_ is feeling tired. And grumpy.

Though she's onboard with the bagels, at least.

But when she hears a scream less than a block away, it's Korra who feels determined.

It's Korra who accelerates. When she reaches the edge of the roof, it's Korra who leaps out into the night with nothing but air between her and the sidewalk thirty feet below.

* * *

Opal Beifong remembers it like this:

One minute, she's stumbling out of a house party with her boyfriend and a need for a pizza, a taxi and her bed.

In whatever order the night sees fit to offer them.

The next minute, she and Bolin are being surrounded by bulky men in cheap suits wearing cheaper cologne.

Opal would be offended by the liberal quantities of the stuff wafting through the air, but it does mask the scent of gun oil.

Which is a plus.

The clear minus is that the men are not just holding guns, they're pointing them at Opal and Bolin.

A man with a whispery voice and a wisp of a beard says, "You're going to be coming with us, Ms. Beifong."

That's the point where Opal kicks off her heels. That's the point where Bolin screams.

Opal knows how to take care of herself. Bolin's handy, too, but if she was sober, she likes to think she _wouldn't_ have tried to fight six men armed with guns.

It's a short scuffle, which ends with Bolin face down on the concrete, having had his head bashed from behind, one of the men in suits groaning in a heap in front of Opal, and Opal with her arms pinned by another two suit wearers.

One of them looks around and asks, "Where's that idiot with the van?"

Wispy nods at another man and says, "Go check."

He starts jogging towards the nearest side street.

Wispy turns to Opal. "That was foolish. That deserves...punishment. Mr Movie Star here...his face is his meal ticket, huh?"

He walks slowly over to Bolin. Wispy draws back his foot, ready to kick.

Opal strains against the men holding her, screaming in fury.

That's when the jogging thug stops, gasping.

That's when a black-clad figure appears out of the night air above them, surrounded by a blue glow.

* * *

"A blue glow?"

Asami leans forward slightly, not breaking eye contact with Opal. She's careful to keep her tone even.

"Unbelievable, right?" Opal Beifong sounds remarkably cheerful for someone who was held at gunpoint six hours ago, while drunk, and is now sitting shoeless in the corner of a Republic City Police Department office with a carpet older than Opal and Asami put together. "It was only for a few seconds, while she was in the air, but I swear I saw it."

Asami sits back in her rickety chair, mirroring Opal in the seat perpendicular to hers. "I believe you, of course."

Asami does. She's been following stories about the vigilante she's dubbed the Blue Spirit for over a month. And other witnesses have reported a blue glow and even more fantastic things.

"Of course! You're my good friend, rushing to my side in a time of need!" Opal smirks. "But you're also asking yourself if your _readers_ are going to believe this, aren't you Sato?"

Asami wasn't thinking that. She was thinking about what her editor, Tenzin, will believe. To Opal she says, "I'm here as your friend, Opal."

"Hmm." Opal reaches out and gently takes Asami's hand in one of hers. She presses the fingers of her free hand against Asami's wrist. "I feel a pulse. Which means you're here as a reporter, too."

Asami sighs. Opal can be frustratingly observant sometimes. "Opal, I'm not trying to interview you!"

Opal squeezes Asami's hand. "I believe you. But you are who you are, Asami. And I love you for it. Now do you want an exclusive or not?"

Asami grins ruefully. "Well, how can I say no?" Asami digs her notepad and a pen out of her bag. "So...what happened next?"

* * *

Korra glides on the night air, taking in the scene below.

Six men, armed. One down but not necessarily out.

A young woman struggling against them. A young man injured.

She was too slow, and someone got hurt.

A sense of calm wells up from within Korra. It's not hers, but it's what she needs in the moment.

Korra nods. There'll be time for self-recrimination later. Assuming she doesn't eat a bullet in the next few minutes.

Korra wills the air to dissipate. She drops from fifteen feet up, landing feet first on the chest of the nearest gunman, crushing him to the sidewalk. Korra rolls off of him, and comes up running.

One of them yells, "Stop!"

Korra rolls her eyes. "Does anyone ever actually do that?"

She ducks under the arm of another gunman, who hesitates just a fraction of a second too long before his finger tightens on the trigger.

Korra explodes upright, driving her shoulder into his chest, knocking the air out of him and lifting him off his feet. She drives forward, dumping him on the ground, leaving him struggling for air.

Korra kicks his gun down the street and swings to face the other three.

The one with the beard points his gun at the injured guy's head and says, "Stop! Or I'll kill him."

"Nah." Korra advances on them, walking rather than running. If they want to talk, so much the better. "You're not going to kill...the Nuktuk guy? Wow! Uh, anyway, this is a kidnapping. Right?"

He smiles. "We're kidnapping _her_. I will kill _him_."

"Hey, that's useful information, thanks!" Korra is fifteen feet away from the pair holding the girl. Beard boy tenses, so Korra quickly shakes her head. He's a talker. He hesitates.

Korra says, "See, you've got this all wrong. This isn't a hostage situation. This is a math problem. I just need to...solve you three to balance the equation."

Korra sucks in a breath and summons all her focus. She makes small, quick motions with her hands. She likes to think she can hear the tiny clicks of their safeties engaging. She's been practicing that particular trick, one she came up with herself, too, but...she has no idea if she's good enough to pull it off under stress like this.

One way or another, she's going to find out. Korra keeps walking forward.

Beard boy snarls a curse and swings his arm up, pointing his weapon at Korra. "Last warning!"

Korra snorts. "See, that's where you're going wrong. _Warnings_? You think I gave your van driver a warning?"

Beard boy's eyes widen. The other two exchange a glance.

Korra darts towards them. The one on the right raises his gun, but he's hampered by the girl. She goes limp, letting her dead weight drag against both of the men holding her, pulling them off balance and distracting them.

Korra grins. She _likes_ this lady.

Korra doesn't need to do anything fancy. She punches the goon on the right in the jaw. It's a good, clean blow with plenty of momentum behind it.

His head snaps back, his knees give up, and Korra lets gravity take care of the rest. "Oops, sorry! Forgot to warn you! Idiots."

She grabs the girl, yanking her away from her captor. Korra pushes her away, spinning and dropping down, throwing out her leg in a sweep that trips gunman number two.

* * *

"Wait, what?" Asami, scribbling furiously in her notebook, glances up at Opal.

Opal purses her lips. "Yeah, it sounds weird, doesn't it? But...she grabbed me and pushed me, and I fell but...it was like the...air...cushioned my fall? I didn't get so much as a scrape. But the other guy...when she tripped _him_ , it was like the sidewalk rose up to meet him. He went down _hard_."

Asami shakes her head. She returns her attention to her notepad. "This is _fascinating_. But...are you sure this was a woman?"

Opal snorts. "Yeah! Are you kidding? I, uh...well, she grabbed me, and...she was a she, okay? And...and, uh, hey where's your tablet, anyway? What is this pen and paper business?"

Asami grins. "It's harder to hack. And you're _blushing_ , Opal."

"I am not! And you're not even looking! And...and she saved my life and literally swept me off my feet, okay? Being flustered is a legitimate response!"

"And how is Bolin's head wound?"

"I hate you. You're evil. And he's...fine."

Asami looks up. "What do you mean, 'fine'?"

Opal hesitates. "This is where it gets strange."

Asami raises an eyebrow.

Opal huffs. "Okay! Strang _er_."

* * *

Korra only has beard boy left to worry about.

The good news is, he's entirely focused on her. The less good news is, he's entirely focused on pointing a gun at her head.

Korra readies herself to lunge at him.

Beard boy pulls the trigger.

Well, tries to. He freezes for a split second when his gun doesn't go bang.

"Safety's on, beard boy." And Korra's too giddy to care if everyone can hear the relief in her voice.

He looks at her. He looks at his pistol. He flicks the safety off.

While he's wasting time doing all that stuff, Korra covers the distance between them, shoves his arm out wide, and drives her elbow into his stomach.

After that...

* * *

"Wispy became wheezy. Then she grabbed him and choked him out."

Asami taps her chin with her pen. "Ooookay, so this lady has skills, but..."

Opal shakes her head. "It's more than that. I could maybe have written it all off as some weird vigilante thing, and the blue glow as a trick of the light, but...Asami, Bolin _was_ hurt. He...she...she almost ran off, after the fight was over, but she stopped and..."

* * *

Korra checks her surroundings. None of the gunmen look likely to cause much mischief in the next few minutes. And she can hear sirens in the distance. Time to make an exit before she makes too memorable an impression.

Or runs into any police officers who might have questions for her.

Or maybe just cuffs.

Except...the young woman is kneeling over freaking Nuktuk, and his head is bleeding, and it doesn't look good.

Korra bites her lip. She whispers, "Ambulance is coming..."

And _she_ answers, in the confines of Korra's mind, in something that Korra thinks of as a voice, even though _she_ never uses words.

The ambulance might be coming, but Korra is here. And she can help.

" _How_? I can't...punch him better! Uh...can I?"

Time seems to slows to a crawl as a man steps into her field of vision. A blue, spectral figure, tall, lean, bald, and smiling. 

He says, "I can show you, Korra. And Raava will guide you."

Korra groans. Her life has taken a serious turn for the crazy since this guy started showing up. "I think I preferred it when I thought you were just an imaginary friend or a...a dream, Aang."

Aang says, "I'm merely a humble memory, Korra. Dreams are above my pay grade."

"You were a monk, right? Did you even get paid?"

"Oh, yes. Just not with money. And you're stalling, Korra."

She is. And while the world seems to be moving slowly around her, Korra knows that it isn't. Aang may or may not be a memory of a person, but he is a projection of Korra's mind, and their conversations sometimes happen at the speed of Korra's synapses.

Usually only when she's under serious pressure or Aang needs to convince her to do something she isn't going to like.

Korra says, "Maybe I'm stalling because four months ago the biggest worry in my life was getting a job! Not...mastering elemental powers and fighting crime because an ancient spirit decided to take up residence in my...my..."

"Soul?" Aang suggests, cheerfully. "Raava has always been a part of you, even if you only recently learned this truth."

"Hey! You know I don't like the s-word!" Korra flushes. "She doesn't even help with the rent!"

"Korra...I know you didn't ask for this responsibility, but...this young man needs you."

"I'm getting better at this stuff, but I've never tried something like this! What if I mess up? I could hurt him..."

"You won't."

"I...can't exactly pretend I'm normal anymore if I do this...I...it's definitely going to get out that I have powers..." Korra folds her arms. "Fine! What do I do?"

"Well, for a start, you're going to need some water..."

* * *

Asami stares at the ceiling tiles. She idly wonders if they were white originally.

Opal says, "Still believe me?"

Asami nods, slowly. "Yes. But...it's not what I was expecting."

Opal snorts. "Try being there when an actual superhero steals your mineral water, pours it over your boyfriend's head and starts...glowing."

"And Bolin just...got better?"

"She kinda waved her hands around, and then the _water_ glowed, and...yeah, Bolin stopped bleeding. And after a minute or so, he came to."

"Bolin saw her too?"

"Yeah. I mean, maybe? He was still kinda groggy..."

Asami taps her chin and flicks through her notes. "So did she say anything else to you? Any other details spring to mind?"

"Usually, I'm the one who asks questions in this office."

Asami jumps in shock and turns to face the newcomer.

Lin Beifong, captain of the precinct, is standing in the doorway of her office. She's fifty, and if it shows in the worry lines of her face, it doesn't in the hard, muscled lines of her body. Lin is in possession of steel-grey hair, a steelier gaze, and a scowl that could _etch_ steel at twenty paces.

She's scowling at Asami right now. "This being my office. Which I did not invite you into, Ms. Sato of the Republic City Chronicle."

Before Asami can say anything, Opal says, "Hey, Auntie Lin! Asami's here to drive me home. I invited her in. I didn't know I wasn't supposed to. Sorry!"

Opal really doesn't sound sorry at all, but Lin eases up on the death glare and grunts. "That explains you, Ms Sato. But what about _this_?"

Lin steps out of the office. She returns a few seconds later dragging a young woman by the arm. A very familiar, brown-skinned woman, whose blue eyes are puffy with sleep, whose expression is hang-dog, who is, once again, late and almost more trouble than she's worth.

Almost.

Korra is lacking in some of the qualities that Asami values, especially punctuality. But even in the short time they've worked together, Korra has proven that she's dogged, she's got good instincts, and, most importantly, she has a huge heart.

And...Asami can almost feel Opal's eyes boring into her. Asami smooths out her expression and says, "Captain Beifong, this is my assistant, Korra. Who was supposed to meet me _outside_ , half an hour ago."

Korra blushes, ducking her head. "Sorry, Ms Sato! I, uh, was running late, so I thought I should ask about you at the desk, and-"

Lin interrupts, saying, "And that's two representatives of the Republic City Chronicle more than I want around my niece right now. Opal is _not_ a story, and I want to be clear that-"

Opal bounces out of her seat, flits between Asami and Lin, and grabs Korra's hand, shaking it enthusiastically. "Korra? I'm Opal! So nice to meet you! And, gosh, Asami, you didn't tell me you had a new assistant!"

Korra smiles nervously. "I've only been with the paper a month, but it's really exciting, working for Ms Sato!"

"Oh, I'll bet!" Opal purrs, shooting Asami a smirk as she guides Korra deftly away from Lin into the chair beside Asami. "I'd love to hear all about it! I can tell we're going to be friends already!"

Korra blushes, and rubs her neck, and mumbles, "Oh, uh, okay?"

Opal grins and gives Asami an appraising look.

All of which irritates Asami. For...some reason she doesn't have time to think about right now. "Korra, why don't you wait by the car? We won't be long."

Lin stomps round to her desk and flings herself into her seat. "Why don't you _both_ get out of my office? Opal doesn't need-"

"Nonsense! Korra's here for Asami, and Asami's here for me. We're all friends now!" Opal winks at Asami.

Asami glances at Korra's dazed expression, and mutters, "Fine."

She gives Opal a quick glare. Opal cheerfully sticks her tongue out at her.

Lin growls, "Fine! But Opal, you should be taking this more seriously. And Ms Sato and...intern, you're both here on sufferance. I'll trust you won't be taking advantage of my niece's situation?"

Korra opens her mouth. Asami kicks her ankle before she can speak.

Asami shakes her head. "No, ma'am. You have my word. If I may ask, though, strictly as a concerned friend...do you have any theories as to why Opal was targeted?"

Lin snorts. "'No, ma'am!' she says. And goes for the jugular afterwards."

She broods for a minute, before opening her desk drawer, pulling out a file, and dropping it on her desk. "The men we picked up are low-level operatives for a group known as the Red Lotus. Exactly why they targeted Opal..." Lin's face hardens, but her eyes soften. "They were probably trying to get to me. That's the current assumption."

Opal goes to Lin, placing a hand on her shoulder. "None of this is your fault. And I'm okay."

Lin sighs. "You nearly weren't. And your fiancé could have been killed!"

Asami blinks. "Fiancé?"

Korra says, "Is he okay?"

Lin clamps her mouth shut and glowers at them both. 

Opal laughs. "Yes, fiancé! He popped the question in front of our favourite food truck! So romantic! Which is all a secret, thank you. And, yes, he's doing just fine! Thanks to our hero."

Asami watches relief spread across Korra's face. It's sort of sweet, how concerned Korra is about someone she's just met. And she has such an expressive face, and such huge blue eyes, and...

Korra is her assistant. Asami is Korra's superior. It wouldn't be appropriate to...not that Asami _wants_ to...

Lin growls, "Hero? Vigilante thug. Who we're closing in on, Ms Sato. Which is my official off the record position."

Asami yanks her gaze away from Korra. She catches Opal staring at her and says, "Uh...congratulations! To both of you."

Lin scoffs.

Opal snickers. "Thanks. You, too. Y'know, on getting a new...assistant!"

Asami flushes and grits her teeth. She gives Opal a glare that just makes the other girl more smug.

Korra says, "Captain Beifong...do you have any leads on these Red Lotus guys? It seems they've been busy the last few months."

Asami stares at Korra, surprised. Asami's only run across the name recently, partly in connection into her investigation into the Blue Spirit. She wonders what else Korra knows.

Lin snorts. "This is why I don't like reporters in my office, intern. I don't intend to discuss any active investigations, intern. Anything else, intern? No?"

Lin's been known to send even seasoned reporters running when her tone gets that withering, but Korra just thrusts her jaw out and stares Lin in the eye. "From what I've heard, the Red Lotus have been connected with a number of prominent art thefts. And Opal-"

Asami's eyes widen. "Is the daughter of renowned patron of the arts, Suyin Beifong! Who has a charity auction in a couple of days! Captain, what if..."

Lin's expression closes off. "Opal. We've got your statement. I'll have Mako drive you to the hospital. Good day, Ms Sato."

Asami grits her teeth, flashes a quick smile at Opal, and just about manages to resist slamming Lin's door on the way out.

* * *

Korra follows Asami to her car, wondering how much trouble she's in.

She was late _and_ she got them kicked out of the captain's office.

Asami is fuming, Korra can tell. She really needs to learn to keep her mouth shut.

Asami Sato is an intimidating boss.

Not because she's the daughter of one of the country's leading industrialists and is so rich it would take a couple of years to count all her money.

And it's not because she's mean, or likes to throw her weight around, because she isn't and she doesn't. It's because she's incredibly smart, talented, dedicated, and downright driven in the face of injustice.

Not that it matters, but she's also the most beautiful woman Korra's ever seen; something Asami herself seems unaware of.

Korra...admires Asami. It would have been a dream working with her before...well, before Korra became...whatever it is she is now.

But Korra's almost always late these days, and Asami's caught her apparently zoning out more than once, which isn't great.

It's not like Korra can tell Asami that's she's communing with the spirit of her past life who is trying to teach her how to wield the powers that Raava, the Spirit of Light, grants Korra by virtue of being bonded with her very soul.

It's not like _Korra_ even believes any of that stuff yet...

"That all went well!" Aang appears at her shoulder. "I suspect that, whatever the Red Lotus wants, it isn't about collecting nice paintings and sculptures. There are deeper forces at work, Korra."

Even though Korra is pretty sure no one can see or hear them when they commune like this, Korra still whispers in response, "Thanks, ghost monk, for the clue that there might be something _supernatural_ going on!"

Aang grins. "It's what I'm here for," he says, modestly.

He vanishes when Asami opens the front door of the precinct and a ray of sunlight washes over him.

As soon as they get out of the building, Korra decides to try to mitigate the scolding she's sure she's in for.

"Um...Ms Sato? I got you breakfast..."

Korra pulls the bagels out of her rucksack and passes Asami a brown paper bag.

Asami blinks in surprise.

Korra says, "Uh, I know sometimes when you're in a rush you kinda...forget to eat, so...I hope this is okay?"

Asami slowly smiles, some of the tension easing out of her. "Well, I guess I can't be mad at you for being late if it was because you were getting me breakfast...but you do need to work on your timekeeping Korra."

Korra nods. "Yeah, sorry Ms Sato."

Asami makes a face. "Asami. Please."

"O-okay..."

Asami doesn't say anything else until they're both in the car. But the second Korra's door closes, Asami slams her fist against the dashboard and growls, "I can't believe Lin tried to play me!"

Korra blinks. "What?"

Asami shakes her head. "She knew about the art connection the whole time. She fed us that line about fearing they were trying to use Opal to get to her. But she knows it's Suyin they were probably after."

Korra frowns. "So...she's trying to protect Suyin? Or Opal? Or both?"

Asami sighs, her anger ebbing. "I suppose I can't blame her for trying to throw me off. She thinks I'm just chasing a story."

"But we're, uh... _you_ aren't?"

Asami studies Korra. "What do you think?"

There's something in the way she asks the question that makes Korra sit up straighter. "I think...you _will_ chase this story. Because your friends are in trouble. And this is how you can help them."

Asami smiles. "Not bad. But it's definitely _we_ , Korra. If you're with me. This...could be dangerous. We'll be working to expose the kinds of people who go to great lengths to stay hidden."

Korra doesn't hesitate. "I'm with you!"

Asami smiles again. "Good. I'm...glad you are, Korra."

Asami opens her bag and bites into her bagel. She closes her eyes and sighs. "Oh...that is good. Thanks for this."

Korra grins and opens her own bag. Somewhere inside her, Raava stirs in anticipation of the cream cheese filling.

Asami takes another bite. "Thing is, it's _two_ stories, Korra. Though they're connected. We need to figure out where the Blue Spirit fits into all this."

Korra chokes on her bagel. "The...what?"

"The vigilante who rescued Opal? I'm calling her the Blue Spirit. Is that dumb? I haven't shared it with anyone else yet. It...may be dumb. We'll work on it. Anyway, she's crossed paths with the Red Lotus a few times now. They seem to be at odds...maybe she's from a rival organisation? Maybe she's after the same thing the Red Lotus is. Which...is what _we_ have to figure out."

Korra's heart starts to hammer and her mouth dries out. She swallows and says, "I...it's not dumb, it's actually pretty...uh wait, _she_ has? She's a she?"

Asami nods. "Opal saw her in action. With what she told me, and what I've been piecing together...this could be the bigger story, Korra. This could change the world."

Korra stares out the window. Aang stares back at her, grinning. "Oh," Korra says weakly. "That's...exciting. So...uh, how are we going to figure out what the Red Lotus are after?"

Asami says, "Well, it seems likely that they're interested in Suyin. Or her art collection. Or connections. So...the auction seems like a good place to snoop around."

"Right! Good luck getting into one of the most exclusive events of the year on two days' notice!"

Asami gives Korra a weird look.

But before she can figure that out, Aang leans through the windscreen and says, "You need to find a way in. The Red Lotus...your destiny is to face them. I'm...pretty sure. About 80 per cent. It's maybe not your _ultimate_ destiny, but your...imminent destiny? Yeah, let's go with that."

Korra glares at him and mouths, "Thanks, jerk."

"Korra?"

Korra flinches. "Uh, sorry. What?"

"I said, do you have any fancy evening wear?"

Korra looks down at her sweater, slacks and pumps combo, officially all the nicest clothes she owns. "Uh..."

Aang says, "I'm doing my best, here. I'm the memory of a dead monk. The future is _way_ above my pay grade." He winks at her, and vanishes.

Asami gives her a strange look as she puts the car into gear. "Well, not to worry. I'll need you to get up to speed on all of my files after the fitting."

Korra nods. "R-right. I can do that over...fitting?"

Asami grins, a fierce, fleeting flash of her teeth. "If I'm taking you as my date to Suyin's auction, you'll need to look the part."

"Date? Auction? _Me_?"

Asami laughs. "Um, I'm not sure how to put this, but...I'm a Sato? I have an invitation to the auction already. And there's a plus one, so...it'll be the perfect cover for us to snoop around if you're my date. Pretend date, obviously!"

Korra isn't sure what's more daunting, the prospect of wearing a fancy dress, the prospect of tangling with the Red Lotus again, the fact that Asami and Opal are going to be in the firing line, or that Asami is apparently putting all of her considerable investigative talents to use tracking Korra's vigilante identity down. 

After a second's consideration, Korra decides the scariest thing is definitely the part where she's going to have to pretend to be _Asami Sato's_ date.

"Oh. Um. R-right, yeah. That makes...sense."

Korra almost jumps out of her seat when a woman's voice by her ear says, "I like this one. And she likes you, I can tell. I approve of this courtship."

Korra feels time slow down around her, like it does when Aang shows up. She looks over her shoulder to see the blue outline of a woman in robes. Her face is painted into a fierce expression. She looks like she could make even Lin Beifong cry just by raising an eyebrow at her.

"Who are you, now?"

The woman snorts. "Your knowledge of your own history is deplorable. As are your skills. We must correct this. And I...am Kyoshi."

Korra groans. "I thought it was just Aang...there are _more_ of you?"

The woman glares at Korra. "No! I am _Kyoshi_. I stand alone. But...there have been many who have been blessed by Raava over the millennia."

" _Millennia_? H-how many ghosts am I carrying around with me?"

"I am not a ghost! I-"

"You're Kyoshi. Right. Answer me one question?"

Kyoshi smirks. "It is the way she blushed and hesitated slightly when she said 'date'. Did you catch it? That is how I could tell she likes you. If you need my advice in how best to woo her, I am well-versed in erotic poetry and-"

" _No_! Uh, thanks, but no! I just wondered why Raava seems to like cream cheese so much."

Kyoshi frowns. "Ah. Interesting. For me, it was moon peach pie."

Korra blinks, and Kyoshi is gone.

Asami grins at her. "Come on, Korra. Evening wear isn't the end of the world. And we've got work to do. Let's get to it!"

Korra nods, trying to look confident and not even slightly terrified.

Within her, Raava stirs, sending out calm and certainty.

Korra takes a breath. She squares her shoulders and says, "Okay. Investigate a fancy auction and figure out how to take down the Red Lotus?"

In the rearview mirror, Korra can see Aang and Kyoshi watching her.

Korra looks at Asami. She looks determined. She looks...unstoppable.

Korra smiles. "We've got this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this one is a big experiment in style and structure! Hopefully it feels like the first episode of a pulpy superhero serial, a pilot to a show that never got taken to series. But, y'know, maybe it just feels incomplete, awkward, and kinda sucks.
> 
> If you'd take the time to comment and let me know what works and/or doesn't work for you, I'd deeply appreciate it! Feedback, especially critical feedback, really helps me!
> 
> (Things _I_ discovered: I like writing Opal! Things I already knew: exposition is hard, and I'm not the best at it.)
> 
> Anyway! Thanks very much for reading! See you in another fic!
> 
> UPDATE: Okay, wow, people seem keen on this, I'll try and do more?


	2. How was your day? Pt. 1

Korra has just finished easing herself into her seat in her cubicle at the _Republic City Chronicle_ when the elevator dings and Asami Sato emerges. She walks quickly, confidently, almost perfectly concealing a slight limp as she heads for Korra's station. Korra groans and pushes herself upright before Asami can get too close and see the effort standing up costs her. After the morning's misadventures, Korra's...basically everything hurts.

She puts on a smile for Asami. "Good morning, Ms Sato!"

Asami seems to brighten at the sight of her, and for a second, Korra's pain can't touch her. "Korra! You made it here before me for once!" Asami chuckles ruefully. "I'm, uh, a little late..."

Korra knows why, too. But she can't say that, because _Korra_ isn't supposed to know. Only the Blue Spirit does...

So Korra says, "I got a new alarm clock..." She winces, not because of her torn muscles, but because she just said something really dumb to the smartest person she knows.

But Asami just laughs in a way that clearly isn't _at_ Korra, but with her. "I don't think that would've helped me, unfortunately. Come on! Let's go to my office, and you can tell me about your morning...over coffee. Then I'd better tell you about mine..."

Korra smiles at her, and it's easy to do, in spite of the fact that she has a fair idea of what Asami needs to tell her. "Can't wait! Because, uh, my morning was pretty boring..."

* * *

Korra's brand new old-fashioned alarm clock wakes her with the demented sound of a tiny hammer rattling vigorously against two steel bells. Korra's hand swats vaguely in the direction of the noise. She misses, not being awake enough to be coordinated yet, but the alarm stops anyway.

In fact, it...dies, with a tortured _sproink_ , and Korra blinks herself awake when a spring bounces off her cheek. "Oh, crap..."

The clock is a crumpled mess of metal, leaking cogs and springs. Korra stares at her hand. "Oh, _no_! I can sleep _superpower_? What next?"

Korra hunts for her phone. She was reading late last night, everything she could find about recent art thefts, the upcoming auction, and the Beifongs. Oh, and she had a stomach-churning read through Asami Sato's latest column on the mysterious vigilante known to most as the Blue Spirit and to Korra as...Korra.

Asami doesn't have much to go on, but some of her speculation is uncomfortably close to the truth. And Asami seems keen on learning the truth. And she is the best investigative reporter in the city. And she's also Korra's boss...

Korra finds her phone -- which has somehow become wedged under her butt during her sleep -- checks the time, groans, notices her battery's almost dead, regroans, and rolls over, hunting for her charger. When she does, she comes face to face with Aang, and she barely stifles a shriek. 

"AAAaaang...I've told you, not this early!"

Aang blinks. "It's an hour after dawn. It's not early."

"Maybe not for a dead monk with superpowers, but I'm a normal person! With...superpowers..."

Aang is a blue, spectral figure, on account of being dead and a spectre. Or maybe a memory. A very persistent memory, supposedly of Korra's former life. So when he sighs, it's nothing to do with respiration and everything to do with amusement. "I've told you, it's not superpowers. It's the lost art of _bending_. I blame all the comics you kids have now."

Korra snorts. "Uh, you supposedly died twenty-three years ago. Pretty sure comics were around when you were a kid, too."

"Oh, absolutely! And I loved them! But I still knew bending from superpowers. And...Korra you know _exactly_ when I died. My last breath occurred a breath before you were conceived."

Korra waves her hands frantically. "No, no, no! That's gross! And what are the rules?"

Aang chuckles. "Oh, right! No reincarnation talk before-"

"R-word! R-word talk!"

"Ahem. No...r-word talk before coffee." Aang bows without any hint of mockery. It makes Korra pretty sure that he's mocking her. "Apologies, Korra."

Korra sighs and flops back on her bed. "I should get up. Trash that clock before my flatmate wakes up. Maybe get to work on time for once. That'd be nice..." 

Korra tries not to think about who's waiting at work, and how nice her eyes are, and about the auction tonight, and having to wear an insanely expensive dress, and the _entirely fake_ date with the very real Asami freaking Sato.

The dress fitting the other day was an awful experience, because Asami couldn't stay and Korra was left alone with predatory tailors who could sense her lack of money and were no doubt thinking all sorts of mean things about her and her nicest sweater, just because she had one tiny, teeny cream cheese stain on it.

The fact that the only way the whole process could have been more excruciating was if Asami had been there doesn't make Asami not being there any less of a bad thing.

Which is about the moment that Korra realises that she's spent far too much time thinking about Asami Sato already and she's only been awake a few minutes.

She rubs her face with both hands so that Aang can't see her blushing.

Aang says, "So...thinking about Asami?" Korra yanks her hands down and glares at him. He grins. "Sorry, I meant the A-word."

"That's not...I wasn't...I had my face covered!"

"Yeah...so...I'm the memory of the previous version of you and I live inside your sou...uh...s-word. I can tell when you're blushing."

Korra stares at him. "I...is there _no_ privacy...?"

Aang makes a seesawing gesture with his hand. "Yes and no. We're always listening for your call, Korra. But I can't read anything in your mind you don't want me to. In fact, I can really only read what _you_ let me. A-word is, uh, loud in your thoughts, and you haven't really unburdened yourself about-"

"Asami! Her name is Asami! Please just call her Asami, I don't want this to be weird!"

Korra pauses, taking stock of the fact that she's having a conversation about the devastatingly awesome and beautiful woman -- who also happens to be her immediate boss -- with a ghost, who claims to be her most recent past life, in the aftermath of her sleepily flattening her alarm clock, with the superpowers granted to her by an ancient spirit called Raava, while she's wearing Power Puff Girls sleeping shorts and she hasn't had any coffee.

"Weirder...I don't need this to get _weirder_..."

Aang nods sympathetically. "I was trained from an early age. You're late coming to all of this stuff. I know it's hard...but you're doing great, Korra. And if you need dating advice-"

Korra sits bolt upright with panic. "Do not bring Kyoshi into this! She keeps trying to get me to recite poetry to Asami!" Korra is aware of her blush intensifying. "Very, very, _very_ intensely erotic poetry..."

Aang chuckles. "No, no, not Kyoshi! Though if you think anyone can _make_ her do anything...ha! I'm no poet, but I was married to a wonderful woman for many happy years. I'd like to think I know _something_ about dating."

Korra blinks. "You were a monk..."

"Yes. Not the celibate kind, though."

"Oh..." Korra's eyes widen. "Uh...did you...?"

To Korra's eyes, Aang is composed entirely of blueish light. So his eyes can't really light up, but they somehow do anyway. "Three children. Two boys and a girl. Great kids!"

"Are they...alive? Sorry, that's..."

"It's okay. And yes. They are. Katara, too. My wife."

Korra stares out of the window, thinking. "You must miss them so much. Do you...would you...could I visit any of them for you? I don't know, is that weird? Or rude? Sorry, I-"

Aang holds up his hand. "It's not rude, Korra. It's _kind_. It's...also sort of unnecessary..."

"Right. Of course. You're a monk! Were a monk. You've probably learned how to cut off ties to the living or...something?"

Aang winces. "Well...that's one theory..."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Aang purses his lips. "So...ha! Funny story, but...you know your boss?"

"Asami?"

"No...your actual boss at the paper. Asami's, too."

"Oh. Editor Tenzin?"

"Yeah..." 

Korra blinks, as her brain buffers. "Wait... _Tenzin_ is your _son_?"

"You never noticed the resemblance?" Aang tilts his head, presenting his profile.

"Tenzin isn't _blue and shimmery_! You! You recommended I apply to the _Chronicle_!"

Aang looks embarrassed. "Well...it is a good job and you're well-suited to it..."

"And you get to keep an eye on our son!" Korra claps her hands over her mouth and whimpers. "I mean _your_ son! Your son! Oh, no! I'm my boss's dead father r-worded! Supposedly! I'm...I'm a mom! I'm too young to be a mom to a sixty year old!" Korra clutches her head and tries not to hyperventilate. "Do I have to give him pocket money out of the wages he pays me?"

"He's forty-seven in two months," Aang points our helpfully. "You could get him a card, I suppose. But you're not his mother. Or his father. You're not related to him at all. Though I would appreciate you keeping an eye on him."

Korra raises her head, staring at Aang in horror. "I...I have grandchildren..."

Aang sighs. "Okay, I'm starting to understand the no r-word before coffee rule. Unfortunately, I think that first cup is going to have to wait. Red Lotus, Korra."

It clears Korra's head enough to allow her to gape stupidly at him. " _What_? Again? _Now_?"

Aang nods. "I did come here for a reason. We got a bit sidetracked, though, with that very enjoyable talk."

Korra grits her teeth. "Close your eyes! Getting up!"

When Aang obligingly covers his eyes, Korra vaults out of bed and digs out her bag with her superhero outfit of sweats, hoodie and scarf. She grimaces at the smell of stale sweat when she opens the bag. "Great! Haven't had a chance to wash these since that robbery on Cabbage St. So what's happening? And how do you always know?"

"Your new friend, Opal Beifong? They're trying again. And I know because...well, it's complicated..."

Korra glances at the ghost before stripping and yanking fresh underwear out of a drawer. "More complicated than finding out about my wife and children?!"

Aang says, softly, "The world talks to you, Korra. The wind carries scents and whispers, the earth is full of echoes and vibrations. Water travels all around the world and it can carry traces of...memory with it. Fire is...harder, but...well. The world is always telling you things. You'll understand for yourself some day. For now, I'm...interpreting."

Korra feels gooseflesh prickling across her body and tries to fight down the next question that comes to her, but...she's a reporter, and instincts are hard to deny. "Is this...Raava? Is this what she hears?"

Aang pauses for a long time. Long enough for Korra to don a sports bra, boxers, and get one leg into her pants.

Aang says, "Raava has other...conversations. Maybe you'll learn about those some day, too."

He doesn't sound entirely convinced that that would be a good thing.

Korra bites her lip. "What...what _is_ Raava?"

Aang doesn't answer. But Raava does, stirring inside Korra and extending a sense of...something immeasurable, but vast. Something...better than Korra thinks she deserves to understand.

Aang says, in barely a whisper, "She is light, Korra. And she is a heavy burden. She is...duty."

Raava stirs again, and in spite of the fear that she's going into danger again, the fear that she's going to fail, the fear of this strange being that lives within her with a legion of ghosts, Korra finds herself smiling.

"She is also...hungry for cream cheese. Okay, Raava. We can do bagels again. But that's the last time this week! And it's noodles for dinner. No arguments!"

It's at that point, with Korra in her underwear and fumbling with her sweaty sweatpants that her door bursts open and her roommate flounces in.

Ginger is a tall, striking redhead and an aspiring actress. Even in a bathrobe and with her hair in curlers, she gives good flounce. 

"Korra, I need to borrow...uh...are you going to the gym again? Are their changing facilities still closed? You should find a new gym."

Korra quickly pulls up her pants. "Yeah! Right! Haha! It's annoying, but...gotta...make those gains!"

Ginger snorts. "You're almost all muscle as it is, Korra. I'm not sure there's much room for more gains..."

Ginger struts through Aang, who, as someone who exists in Korra's...mind, is seemingly invisible to everyone but Korra, and moves towards Korra's dresser. "I'm auditioning for the part of Serious Scientist No. 2 today. It's a meaty role, too! No dialogue, but some on camera beaker business during the lead's big speech. So, can I borrow your glasses?"

Korra blinks. "I...don't wear any?"

Ginger pauses. "Huh? I could've sworn...oh, well. I'll raid your wardrobe. There's bound to be nerd stuff in there..."

Korra grits her teeth and pulls on a tank top. "Ginger-"

"Whoah!" Ginger's eyes land on the squished clock. "What happened here?"

Korra freezes, shooting a panicky glance at Aang. Aang shrugs and grins at her, spreading his hands. "I'm just a memory! Nosy roommates are above my pay grade!"

Korra blurts, "Ginger! I gotta run! To...the clock store! Then the gym..."

Ginger stares at her. "I mean..." she gestures at the clock. "You should probably work out _less_ , if this is what happens." Ginger's eyes widen. "Oh, Korra! Are you on the roids? Is...is this roid rage?"

Ginger is staring at her. There's no way Korra can make her way out through the window to the fire escape, and the roof. Which means she's going to have to cycle to Opal's rescue...

Korra wrestles her lips into a smile. "No, Ginger. Just an accident. Cheap clock, thin metal! Haha! Help yourself to anything you like, and good luck with the audition! You'll be great!"

"Obviously! I always am!" Ginger preens, then frowns. "I wish more casting directors got that, though..."

"They'll come around! You can tell me about it all later! Bye!" Korra zips up her hoodie, grabs her scarf and a bag with her work clothes and sprints off in the direction of her bike.

* * *

Asami takes a warming sip of coffee and sighs. She's sitting behind her desk in her office, stealthily massaging the ache out of her thigh. She chuckles when Korra gets done telling her about her flatmate's antics. "Ginger sounds like a...challenge."

"Yeah...she's something." Korra shifts in her seat, wincing slightly, and not for the first time. Asami wonders if she took a tumble from her bicycle, and if she's just too proud or stubborn to mention that little detail in her account of her day so far.

It's been a tough morning for Asami, and the day ahead is likely to be hectic, so these few minutes just...listening to Korra have been relaxing. She's so animated, so energetic when she's telling a story, and...Asami is grateful to her. It's not often she gets to lower her guard even a little these days.

Asami's also concerned about Korra's pain, and the pains she's going to to conceal it. Maybe she was rushing to be on time today and that led to an accident on her bike? If so...she would be embarrassed to tell Asami, maybe. But Asami would rather have Korra be late than injured.

Asami looks into her mug and tries to figure out how best to put Korra at her ease. "Korra...I know you're my junior in the office, but we're working this Red Lotus story together. As...partners. You can trust me. You can tell me anything, okay? Did...something happen-"

She looks up, startled, when Korra's shadow falls over her. Korra leans across Asami's desk, reaching out towards her face. Asami freezes.

"K-Korra?"

"Sorry. I didn't mean to...uh, hold still. Just one second!"

Korra's hand reaches past Asami's face, into Asami's hair and quickly comes back into view. She's holding a small piece of glass between her finger and thumb. 

Asami lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding and says, "Oh..."

Korra flushes. "Sorry, Ms Sato! I should've said...I just noticed it, and...uh, it looks like your morning was more interesting than mine?"

Asami smiles wryly. "Call me Asami. Remember?" She forces herself to relax, to ignore Korra's proximity, the concern and the warmth in her expression. She tries to ignore the irony of giving a speech on trust when she's going to have to keep some things from Korra.

Asami sighs. "I do have some things I need to tell you. I, uh, I...saw the Blue Spirit."

Korra stares at her, chewing her lip. "Oh? You...saw her. That's...uh, what was that like?"

"It was...an ordinary enough day. I guess. Until it wasn't..."

* * *

Asami wakes up in her apartment and decides to luxuriate in the pre-dawn stillness for one whole minute before she gets up.

She lays out her outfit for work, fires up her laptop, sets the timer on her coffee machine and grabs a quick shower. She doesn't bother with food -- she's meeting Opal for breakfast -- just pours herself a cup of coffee and dives into her email.

After five frustrating minutes, she gives up on that and guiltily turns her attention to her newsfeeds, looking for anything...Spirity.

There hasn't been much activity since Opal's rescue. But there have been a couple of sightings that sound like they could be the real thing on a conspiracy board she's recently joined. Asami reads the sparse accounts, rejects two of them as plausible fakes and copies the third.

"Foiled robbery on Cabbage St. No blue glow, but...a very athletic person, believed to be a woman. One robber's gun jammed...very cheesy one liner from the possible Spirit...hmm." 

Asami gets up, sipping her coffee, and crosses to her whiteboard. She has a map of Republic City taped to it, and blue stickers for every verified Blue Spirit sighting so far. She has black stickers for all the ones she can't verify but believes to be the Spirit.

Asami adds a black sticker to Cabbage St. Opal's attempted kidnapping is one of the few blue stickers on the map. About another dozen are black. Asami studies the map, looking for a pattern, looking for some clue.

"Where are you? Somewhere on the lower east side? Not exactly the best neoghbourhood. Is that why you do what you do? _Who_ are you, Blue Spirit?" She sighs. "Questions for another time. Red Lotus first."

Asami finishes her coffee, rinses the cup, puts it in the dishwasher, then she gathers her things and goes out to find some answers.

Asami meets Opal for breakfast in Varrickoffee, Republic City's most exclusive and poorly named café. Well, Asami is having breakfast. Opal is having what she's choosing to call brunch.

"You know...you could join a girl. Make her feel less like an alcoholic?" Opal takes a sip of champagne and sighs happily.

Asami swallows a spoonful of grapefruit. "I have work to go to later, Opal. And if you want to feel like less of an alcoholic, you could try drinking less alcohol?"

Opal pouts. "It's one glass! And it's medicinal! I had a very nasty shock the other night."

Asami rolls her eyes. "Your kidnapping attempt? That you were over hours after it happened?"

"I was still in shock! As...far as you know. And don't make light of my almost being kidnapped, thank you. Especially when you're profitting from it. No one's going to want to read the chapter about it in my autobiography now. Oh! Speaking of! The working title is: Opal in the Rough! Thoughts?"

"You should work more on that title." Asami sips her water and sighs. "Opal...I'm _so_ glad you're okay. And if you're uncomfortable with me writing about...what happened-"

Opal bursts out laughing. She grabs Asami's hand and squeezes it. "Like I could stop you chasing down a dangerous gang of thieves. Or writing about the...what did you call her? The Blue Spirit? I know what you're like when you're on the trail of a story. And for the millionth time: I trust you. You're my best friend!" Opal takes another swig of champagne and contemplates a croissant. "Besides, I've got nothing to hide. Let the world know it all!"

Asami raises an eyebrow. "Nothing to hide? So...you'd be fine with picking up the tab on Suyin's credit card and her finding out you're drinking on the morning of her big auction night?"

Opal directs her huge green eyes in her most guileless stare at Asami and flutters her eyelashes. "Did I mention how grateful I am that you're treating me to brunch?"

Asami snorts and raises her water glass. "You're welcome."

Opal clinks her flute against Asami's glass and grins. "Oh, come on! We both know you're here to grill me about the auction, anyway. You could basically put this on your expenses!"

"The paper can't afford this place." Asami winces, as Opal's words fully register. "I...I'm..." Asami slumps. "I _was_ hoping I could get a peek at the guest list ahead of tonight. My ah...uh, _I_ have a theory that the Red Lotus are going to make an appearance tonight, and I want to be as prepared as possible going in."

Asami looks at her plate and pushes her grapefruit around, assiduously avoiding Opal's gaze. It's not her theory, really. It's her's and Korra's. And while Asami is reluctant to conceal Korra's part in their investigation, she's even more reluctant to mention her in front of Opal. Because Opal has Ideas about Korra, and about Asami's interest in her, that Asami doesn't want to get into right...ever.

Opal finishes her champagne and chuckles. "Well, yeah. You said as much the other day and Auntie Lin is thinking the same thing. The guest list has been vetted, groomed, inspected and even deloused at this point. I'll get you a copy anyway. And I'm sure you have the auction catalogue, but there's a mystery lot mother's being all cagey about. I'll fill you in if I pry the secret out of her."

Asami blinks. Interviews aren't normally this easy. "Oh...okay...yeah..."

Opal grins. "And while I obviously can't tell you anything about Auntie Lin's plans, what with her still being mad at you for being a reporter and for generally existing, let's just say that some of the caterers will be protecting as well as serving."

Asami meets her gaze and smiles weakly. "Thanks, Opal. Uh...am I really that obvious, though?"

Opal pats her hand. "Only to me. And it's fine! You're an ace reporter hunting for a story! I'm more than happy to help nail the jerks who hurt Bolin, too. Any way I can."

"How's he doing?" Asami tries not to look as guilty as she feels about only thinking to ask that question now.

"He's fine. Out of the hosptial. He'll be at the party tonight, but right now he's cloistered with his agent and publicist. They're trying to figure out how to spin all this. He's grateful you left his name out of your story, even if plenty of other outlets didn't."

"I...well, I can't substantiate that Bolin was healed by a vigilante with _superpowers_ , so it seemed better to just-"

Opal smiles softly. "Oh, please. Look at you, working so hard to justify to your reporter brain doing a nice thing. See, the thing is...you're here because of the story. But I know you'd be here anyway, because you love me. And...you'd do _anything_ for me! Riiight?"

"Of course I love you, Opal! I...wait." Asami catches herself beginning to nod in agreement and groans. "What favour do you need now? I can't get you access to Future Industries prototypes anymore. Not after the...incident."

Opal waves that away. "Oh, it's nothing like that. This time. I've been working on your dad, and I'm pretty sure he's mellowing towards me. And he was joking about putting me on the security watch list at all Future Industries holdings! I think. Anyway, _this_ time I just want you to be my maid of honour. That's all."

"Oh, right, like it's ever 'that's all' with...uh...what?"

Opal smiles fondly. "I know you're busy all the time and you're usually thinking about a dozen other things at once, but...did you miss the part where I'm getting married? And you're my best friend? There's no one else I'd ask."

"Oh." Asami very carefully doesn't cry. "Okay, then. No, I mean...I'd be honoured, Opal. Thank you."

"Well, you're welcome! And I think that's cause for celebration! How about-"

Asami puts her hand over Opal's before she can signal for the waiter. "No more champagne. We'll raise a toast tonight."

"Have I mentioned that I hate you? Fine! In that case, why don't you tell me what you've learned about the Blue Spirit..." Opal fiddles with her croissant. Her head is down but she's peering at Asami intently through her lashes.

"Well, I've not got much to go on. No one's seen her face, but..." Asami stares at Opal, who is still avoiding her eyes. "Opal...you're blushing again. Like you used to when..." Asami leans forward, whispering furiously. "You can't seriously...you have a _crush_ on the Blue Spirit? You just asked me to be your maid of honour! Because you're getting married to _Bolin_!"

Opal groans, cradling her head in her hands. "I knoooow! I'm a terrible fiancée! I mean, I love Bolin with all my heart, but..." Opal leans forward, lowering her hands, eyes shining. "We both have our lists, you know? Of, uh...acceptable people? And I maybe kinda already told Bolin the Blue Spirit bumped someone off of mine? Because..." Opal sighs dreamily. "It was only for a second, but I could feel her _muscles_ , Asami! And we're talking wow! The most wow! And her eyes? I think she has really nice eyes!"

"Opal _Beifong_! Are you stating an opinion, or expressing your _confusion_ because you haven't even clearly seen so much as her _eyes_? Are you...can we not have this conversation?" Asami chugs her water and refills her glass from the carafe on the table.

Opal glares at her. "You're just jealous because _I'm_ the heiress she swept out of harm's way with her incredible arms rather than you!"

Asami just stares at her until Opal slumps in defeat.

"Okay. Sorry. Look, I...I just...I'd like to say thank you." Opal's normally bantering tone is gone. "Seriously. She saved me from an awful ordeal. And she saved Bolin's life. I _owe_ her. That's all. If you had any leads..."

Asami shakes her head. "I don't. I've found some old stories. And I mean _old_. It sounds like her, but...we're talking a couple of decades ago. There have been a couple of sightings I think are real in the past couple of days, but nothing solid." Asami snorts. "And I've had about a hundred bogus tips since my story went out, too. And I can't just dismiss most of them, because...superpowers!" Asami smiles, relaxing slightly. "Good thing I have Korra. She's been helping sort through the tips. As well as a lot of possible Red Lotus activities...um, but anyway! I've got no idea who the Blue Spirit is, and not much of an idea of where to start looking. Yet. You know more about her than anyone I've spoken to so far."

Opal sighs. "Figures. Oh, well. I guess it's for the best. She's probably off saving some other lucky girl or guy."

Asami pauses, weighing the pros and cons of her next words. She sighs. "Look, there are no guarantees, but...I'm determined to find her. Her powers...her ability to heal...it's world-changing. And...I do have _some_ ideas of where to start..."

Opal brightens immediately. "You do? That's amazing! You'll definitely find her, then!"

"Opal..."

Opal raises her hands. "I'll be on my best behaviour! No mention of lists! Just a polite thank you!" She wilts under Asami's glare. "That you can pass on...because I won't meet her. Gotcha."

Asami decides not to mention that one of her ideas is simply this: if the Red Lotus are planning something for Suyin Beifong's auction, then there are very good odds that the Blue Spirit will be there, too. Asami makes a mental note to coordinate with Korra on what camera and recording gear they should smuggle into the auction. 

Which makes her realise that she hasn't checked to see if the dress she had made for Korra has been delivered to the office. Asami whips out her phone and starts checking through her messages.

Opal says,"You know...I was just thinking..." 

"Hmm?" Asami is too preoccupied to notice Opal's innocent tone and far from innocent expression.

"The guest list isn't complete. There are a few people who didn't inform mother of their plus ones' identities..."

"Yeah...those are the people I want to look at in particular." Asami relaxes when she finds the delivery notification among her messages. "It might be nothing, but...anything that might be a lead, I have to track down."

"Yes. Hmm. Good point. But you know...we both know one of those people who _is_ bringing an unidentified someone..."

Asami looks up from her phone. "Who?"

Opal grins and Asami spots the trap a second too late. "You, Ms Sato. And I couldn't help but notice that you informed mother you'd be bringing a date right after our meeting in Auntie Lin's office..."

Asami scowls and grabs her bag. She signals for the waiter. "Oh, look at the time! Must dash!"

Opal claps her hands. "You _are_ bringing the assistant! Korra, right? The really, really nice, smart and completely gorgeous one you could barely keep your eyes off?"

"Opal! She's not...I mean, uh, objectively she _is_ , but that's not...I wasn't...I'm not...it's not a date, okay?"

Opal giggles. "Aww! I...don't think I've ever seen you this flustered. Not even Mako made this much of an impression. Uh, sorry..."

Asami grimaces. "Please don't bring _him_ into this. And...yes, Korra is my plus one-"

"Squee! It's about time you got over him-"

"It's not a date. It's work. We're colleagues. End of story."

Opal groans. "Asamiiii...you are too all around amazing to be alone this long. It'd be fine if you didn't want to be with someone, I would respect that! But...I know you. I know you want...look. Korra's great! And, sure, it might not work out, but...just...take a chance? Please?"

Asami shakes her head wearily. They've had this argument a few times since her relationship with Mako blew up. And Asami doesn't want to have it again, not now.

"Opal...this isn't-"

Luckily, before Asami has to try to dissuade a determined Beifong from meddling in her love life, gunfire erupts in the street and the window of Varrickoffee shatters inwards, pelting them with glass.

Asami hurls herself across the table, tackling Opal to the floor. She rolls into a crouch, topples their table to give them cover, and starts recording on her phone. She pokes the camera out around the table and hunts around for a weapon.

She finds a knife, glances at her phone to make sure she's capturing something useful and freezes.

"Opal? Uh...is that...?"

Opal, her back to the table and the water carafe in her hand like a club, glances at the phone and gasps. "That light! It's her! The Blue Spirit!"

Asami takes a deep breath, steadying her nerves. "Okay. Okay..."

A bullet punches through the upper edge of their table, making them both duck. Asami frowns. She can't see enough from here. She needs to get out there. This is her chance to see the Blue Spirit in action! This is her chance to get a lead on the Red Lotus! Asami winces as another bullet whizzes overhead, bringing her back to herself. Her first priority has to be to get _Opal_ out of here.

Asami looks for the nearest fire exit and starts plotting a route that will keep them out of the line of fire as much as possible. Asami turns to Opal. "Okay, here's the plan...what are you doing?"

Opal, who is fixing her hair with one hand and rooting through her clutch with the other, mutters, "Looking for my gum...then I need to text Bolin about a possible list situation..."

Asami swats her arm. "Opal! We are _leaving_!"

Opal flushes. "Right, right! Of course!" She quickly stuffs a piece of gum in her mouth. "It's...just in case..."

Asami grits her teeth. "You are not going to be... _kissing_ the Blue Spirit! Especially not in the middle of a gunfight! No arguments! We're going _now_!"

A shadow looms over their table, belonging to a huge woman with a pistol in her hand. "Yes, Miss Beifong. It _is_ time to go. But you will be leaving with us."

* * *

They both jump when a loud knock rattles Asami's door. Peng sticks his head into the office. "Hey. Tenzin wants you."

Asami nods. "Be right there. Korra, could you go through the latest tips? You'll be able to read about what happened and I can answer questions later. You can help me work up today's column..."

Peng shakes his head. "Uh, Asami...he wants both of you."

Asami exchanges a puzzled look with Korra, who looks more than a little nervous about meeting Tenzin. Asami offers her a reassuring smile. "Then...both of us he'll get. Come on, Korra! Let's see what the boss needs."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, hello! It's been a while, but I promised more, and here some more is. Two things: I can't guarantee regular updates, but you hopefully won't have to wait two months for the next bit. And...feedback is still and always very welcome. I'm playing around with things in this fic, tonally and structurally, and if you could let me know what works for you and what doesn't, that would help me a great deal!
> 
> Okay! Thanks for reading, folks! Until our next exciting installment, take care! Be safe! Keep an eye on the rooftops! There are heroes about!


	3. How Was Your Day? Pt. 2

Korra gets increasingly nervous on her way to the meeting with Tenzin. She isn't sure why he's asked for her, but there's a tiny, shrill part of her mind that's insisting that he must, somehow, know that Korra is the Blue Spirit.

As they ride up in the elevator, Korra peeks at Asami, trying to figure out how worried she is. Asami looks calm and confident. Asami almost always looks calm and confident, though. Which means that now Korra's nervous about the meeting _and_ what might happen if she ever has to play poker with Asami.

Peng shows them to Tenzin's office, and sits behind his desk outside it while waving at the door. "They're waiting. Go on in."

"They?" Korra shares a blank with Asami, who shrugs and gestures at the door.

Korra sucks in a deep breath. She knocks, waits for Tenzin's 'Enter!' and goes in.

Tenzin is a tall, lean man who, in the face of male pattern baldness, chooses to keep his head entirely shaved. A spiky dark goatee balances the smoothness of his skull and helps makes his frown more impressive. He's wearing a pale yellow shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the top button unbuttoned. Korra can just see a hint of some kind of tattoo on each of his forearms.

He frowns at Korra when she steps into his office. It's an impressive enough frown to make Korra hunch defensively and look away. It's a spartan enough office that Korra doesn't find anything to distract her for long.

Tenzin's office furniture is cheap and functional. His computer setup is the only thing that looks pricey in the room. A display case full of awards is shoved into a corner behind his desk, facing the opposite wall. It barely counts as noticeable, let alone on display.

Tenzin isn't alone. Sitting across from him in the leftmost of four chairs arranged in a semicircle in front of Tenzin's desk is a tall, dark-haired RCPD detective.

Korra knows he's a detective, in spite of the plain clothes, because he's also quite familiar from the fight at Varrickoffee's this morning. He glares suspiciously at Korra while she holds the door for Asami, giving Korra both a good look at his freshly bruised jaw and what feels like a mild heart attack.

"They know! I should have made a better crime-fighting disguise," she quietly laments for the benefit of any friendly former lives who might be listening.

No one answers.

Asami enters the office and the detective straightens in his seat and changes his glare for something almost...sheepish. He says, "Hey, Asami."

Just her name, but there's a hint of regret, of something like reverence in the way he says it. Korra blinks. She can't help but stare at Asami.

Who stands rigid in the doorway with her lips turned down. "Detective Mako. Twice in one day? How nice. What can the _Chronicle_ do for you?"

He winces. "Asami...I know this isn't what I...but I hoped we could...put the past behind us. Maybe we could talk? Uh, I mean, later. Just the two of us. Soon, maybe...?"

Asami's face pales. Her lips part, but she can't seem to find any words.

Korra looks back and forth between them, forgetting her own worry for a second. Even though it has no right to, her heart sinks at what she sees on Asami's face.

Korra's perception of time slows as a blue hand settles on her shoulder. Korra tries not to jump when Kyoshi says, "Yes, he is your rival. But it is good to know the face of your enemy. It makes it easier to _destroy_ him!"

Korra whispers, "I can't destroy a police officer in front of my boss! Uh...also I do not want to do a thing like that. Obviously!"

Kyoshi frowns. "Very well. I will leave you with this verse: My heart's foundation is built on the arch of her back, in those stolen moments when my t-"

"No poetry!" Korra blurts. Aloud. Kyoshi is suddenly gone, and time is happening and everyone is staring at her. "Uh...haha! It's ah...too early for, uh...poetry?" 

Mako's face reddens. He snaps, "Who are you? And what is _that_ supposed to mean?"

Beyond the dizzying realisation that Mako doesn't recognise her, Korra's mind offers her nothing.

Fortunately, before things can get even more awkward, Tenzin says, "I think Kara is saying, in an...odd way, that we're all here to work. You're here in an official capacity, detective. Try to act like it. Asami. Kara. Please take a seat."

Korra quickly grabs the chair furthest from the detective.

Asami strides forward, flicking a cool glance at Mako. She takes the chair beside Korra, turns to Tenzin and says, "Korra. My assistant's name is Korra."

Tenzin's lips twitch. "Apologies...Korra. Now...the detective is here regarding the shootout at Varrickofee's this morning. Which you were at, Asami. So I have two questions: are you alright? And why am I reading about this incident on another paper's website?"

Korra bristles, but Asami just laughs. "I was a little tied up, boss. But I'm perfectly fine. And I'll have a draft of a column for you in an hour."

Korra knows that Asami isn't _perfectly_ fine. But she's not about to point that out in their current company.

Tenzin nods. "Good. Be sure that you do. Detective?"

Mako turns in his chair and leans towards them. He addresses Asami. "For my part, I know you were questioned this morning, but there are a few things we need to discuss. Particularly about this...Red Lotus gang. And the...vigilante."

Asami raises her eyebrows at Tenzin. His answering smile is thinner than he is. "We're all just...chatting. Cordially. No demands, so no need to bother legal just yet."

"I see." Asami chews her lip, brow furrowed in thought.

Mako shifts uncomfortably. "The chief has...concerns about this situation. An attack in broad daylight, the specific targeting of Opal, the involvement of this other..." His expression darkens. "Dangerous and deranged individual. Whose radar you and Opal are clearly on."

Korra scowls at him. "I am _not_ deranged," she mutters sulkily to Aang when he appears at her elbow.

"No, Korra. But you might want to focus less on the memory of a dead monk and more on the present moment if you want _them_ to know that."

"Good point. Jerk. Oh, and...are we okay with Tenzin coming to work not wearing a tie?"

Aang sighs. "He's forty-six. I'm dead. You're _really_ not his parent...and Asami's talking about you."

Korra blinks, focusing on the conversation that everyone else is having.

Asami says, "...the Blue Spirit was there to help. Without her-"

"The _vigilante_ almost got an officer killed. And what she did to Opal..." Mako shakes his head. "I can't believe you're not worked up about that."

Korra winces and sinks into her seat.

Asami snorts. "I think we saw different things out there."

Mako leans even closer to Asami. Earnestly he says, "Here's what I see: you're involved in all of it, now, Asami. You're not just...observing. You're mixed up with some dangerous people. I'm here to make sure we get what we need to put them away. And to offer you police protection until we can."

Asami's frown deepens. "I'm not sure I like the implications of any of that. I'm guessing 'we' is the RCPD? And that you want access to my files? And I'm sure we won't be seeing your information..."

Mako hesitates. "I can't show you official files. But..." He looks at Tenzin. "We could give the _Chronicle_ exclusive access in return for your cooperation."

Asami snorts, and looks at Tenzin. "Boss...they want to hamstring me! A police escort would limit my ability to follow leads! And access to my Red Lotus files? I have sources to protect and-"

"We'll need your Blue Spirit files, too," Mako says, stiffly. "My partner is in the hospital after what she did."

Korra squirms in her seat. To Aang she says, "Oh, crap! That poor woman!"

"It could have been worse, Korra." Aang shakes his head. "The RCPD are getting serious about hunting you, too. On top of the Red Lotus... we must find more time for training."

Korra bites back a groan. She tunes back into the argument going on around her.

Asami says, "You can't seriously expect me to turn over _everything_ every time RCPD _asks_ for it! They don't have a warrant!"

Mildly, Tenzin says, "We're exploring options. That's all. This is a dangerous story, Asami. These...Red Lotus...if they keep this sort of activity up, people are going to be killed. I'd rather it not be one of my people."

Asami flushes. "That's...the risk is part of the job! And it's my choice."

Tenzin nods. "But only for you. Other people close to you could be at risk. They should get to choose, too."

"That's..." Asami freezes. She turns to Korra, her expression guilty. "That's true," she says, softly. "Korra, you-"

Korra snorts. "I already told you, I'm in."

Asami studies her. Korra holds her gaze and tries to look certain.

Asami slowly smiles. "Thanks, Korra. I mean it." To Tenzin she says, "I want to see these people stopped, and if I can help the police, I will. But I won't be sidelined by Chief Beifong."

"Asami!" Mako shakes his head. "That's not what this is. We're trying to protect you! And Opal! And my brother. Remember him? He could've been killed in their first attempt!"

While Korra processes _that_ piece of information, Asami says, "The Blue Spirit saved him. Remember that?"

Mako shakes his head. "I've seen what that vigilante is. She's a menace. She has to be stopped."

Korra opens her mouth, thinks better of saying anything, and shuts it again, certain that no one but Aang is paying her the least bit of attention. But Asami immediately glances at her. "Korra? Something to say?"

"Uh..."

Mako glowers at her, but Tenzin waves a hand. "You're not here to spectate. Speak."

So Korra takes a breath and says, "A couple of things...one, I still haven't heard the rest of what happened this morning." Strictly true, even if she was there and knows what she _saw_. But there's more that she needs to understand. "Two, I wasn't there." Korra pauses, because that's a complete lie and she's still not great at deception. "So, uh, I'm...not sure why I'm here? And..." 

Korra meets Mako's eye. "Three. What's your story, detective Mako? You can tell us that much, right? I'm guessing you were there today, given those bruises? Care to help us make sense of things?" 

Mako touches the bruises on his jaw. He growls, "I was there, but I can't discuss an active-"

"Oh, please!" Asami throws her hands up. "This is a waste of time!"

Tenzin clears his throat. "Korra. You're here because I asked you to be. Asami, be patient. Detective...if you want cooperation, you have to bring something to the table, too. So...since I've only seen the bare bones myself, and we need to bring Korra up to speed...why don't you and Asami lay it all out for us?"

Mako and Asami glare at each other. The detective looks away first. "Fine...provided it stays between us for now. Well, this much I can tell you..."

* * *

Mako is slumped in the driver's seat of an unmarked car parked across the street a couple of spaces from Varrickoffee's frontage. There's a big window beside the main entrance. Through it, he can see Opal and Asami having an animated conversation. From here, they also have an angle on the alley beside the bistro, where Varrickoffee fire exit leads.

Varrickoffee's sits in the middle of a wide street. Cars line both sides of the road. Most of the buildings at street level here are fancy stores, but there are residences above them.

He and his partner, Shen, have been assigned as part of the protective detail to Opal. It chafes, not being part of the team tracking the scum who hurt Bolin, but at least he gets to make sure nothing bad happens to Opal.

Shen -- five-three, stocky, hiding her muscles beneath a tank top and jacket and wearing a deceptively sleepy-looking expression on her face -- stirs and points her chin at the wing mirror.

"Red-and-white panel van pulling into the alley beside the café. You believe they charge twenty bucks for a latte? It's like a whole other world in there."

Mako knows it is, because his brother is a movie star and friend of Varrick himself. It's one of Bolin's favourite places. Mako hasn't been since things went bad with Asami.

He checks out the van in the mirror. "Well, good thing you don't like lattes, I guess. It looks like a supply van...do we have the café's delivery schedule?"

Shen shakes her head, reaching for their radio. "Nope. But I'll check with central." She pauses, shooting him a smirk. "And, you know, it's not like their rooibos is gonna be any cheaper. I'm just wondering what it tastes like, if they're charging those prices. Think you could use your pull with Ms Beifong to get us a doggy bag?"

Mako just snorts in answer. He watches the van disappear from view in the mirror while Shen talks into the radio.

He looks around, taking in the whole street. After a few seconds, a black sedan with tinted windows pulls into the street from the opposite corner and rolls towards the café.

Mako feels a nervous tingle begin in his gut. "Shen...I've got a feeling, here. I'm going to take a look..."

Shen rolls her eyes. "Great. A Mako feeling. This was supposed to be a quiet detail." She eases up her jacket and unsnaps the clasp on her holster. Her eyes gleam. "I'll call it in. Be right behind you."

Mako nods, getting out of the car. He swings the door shut, turning his body so that the vehicle obscures the sight of him readying his own weapon.

He crosses the street. There's a newsstand a few yards from Varrickoffee's. Mako heads towards it, looking around him as casually as he can. He always keeps at least the corner of his eye on the black car.

It's too early for there to be many pedestrians around, but staff are already at work opening the stores around him. There's no good time or place for a gunfight, least of all in a city. At least it's early. At least the street's not busy.

The suspicious car crawls along the street, it's driver maybe looking for a parking spot. Or maybe getting ready to make a move on a target. On Opal.

Mako's feeling is getting stronger. Adrenaline buzzes through him, making him pick up his pace.

Mako reaches the stand. He picks up a copy of the _Republic City Chronicle_ , tossing some change onto the counter with a nod at the vendor.

He glances at the paper, suppressing a flicker of irritation at the positive coverage of this weird vigilante under Asami's byline. This...Blue Spirit is nothing but bad news. An untrained thrill-seeker with no regard for public safety.

The black car rolls to a stop directly opposite Varrickoffee's. Mako breathes steadily as adrenaline starts to flood his system. He flicks a glance back the way he came. Shen is crouched near their car, tying her shoe lace. She gives him a tiny nod.

The black sedan's passenger doors open. Two men and a huge woman all wearing dark suits climb out of the vehicle, scanning the street as they do. The cut of their jackets almost disguises the bulge of the guns they're wearing. Mako sucks in a breath and says to the vendor, "Sir? RCPD. Nice and slowly, get down on the floor..."

The woman strides towards Varrickoffee. In a moment of truly bad timing, the man nearest Mako meets Mako's eyes as he finishes his visual sweep. Whatever he sees makes him tense and reach into his suit jacket.

Mako curses, and draws his pistol. "RCPD! Freeze!"

The woman pauses to flick her hand in Mako's direction. The men pull pistols and drop into firing stances, even as Mako does.

Shen, weapon drawn, moves into the street, flanking the men at the car. "RCPD! Drop your weapons and get down on your knees!"

For a second, Mako thinks they might comply. It's two on two, and Shen has the drop on them.

But then, Mako spots movement out of the corner of his eye. Three more men come pouring out of the alleyway, submachine guns in their hands, and Mako yells, "Shen! Look out!" 

The driver leans out of the sedan, gun in hand, firing wildly. Bullets scream past Mako as he returns fire. The other two men take cover behind their sedan.

Mako races away from the newsstand, crouching behind the tyre of a parked SUV. It gives him protection from the men in the street, but it leaves him exposed to the men coming out of the alley.

Shen's still in the middle of the road. She has no time to retreat. She doesn't even try. She pivots towards the alley, drops into a crouch and opens fire on the newly arrived gunmen.

Mako pops out of cover and opens fire on the men behind the car. "Shen! Get to cover!"

Mako flinches when bullets fly past him, shattering Varrickoffee's window. The tall woman strides casually through the front door, unfazed by the chaos around her.

Shen is still in the street. She's keeping the men in the alley pinned down with slow, methodical fire. But she and Mako are in a tough spot. As soon as the shooters in and around the sedan turn their attention to Shen, she'll be cut down. And Mako will be next.

And Opal and Asami will be at the mercy of these people.

A bullet punches through the rear of the SUV, exiting through the side door an inch from Mako's head. He ducks behind the car, gritting his teeth. He quickly fumbles a fresh clip into his gun while the SUV shudders from the impact of multiple bullets. He has to do something. He has to change the situation. Somehow!

Shen wings one of the gunmen from the alley when he ducks out, dropping him to the concrete with a wound in his shoulder. Her gun clicks empty on the next pull.

Mako pops up out of cover, firing two rounds at the bad guys' car, making the shooters duck for a second. "Shen! _Go_!"

She stays low, rushing back to the other side of the street, reloading as she goes.

Ignoring the gunfire from the bad guys' car, Mako swivels and draws a bead on the men rushing out of the alley. One of them aims at Shen's back. One of them aims at Mako. He begins to squeeze the trigger.

Which is when the cyclist dressed in black sweats with a scarf over their face zooms round the corner, pedalling madly towards the battle.

* * *

"Wait, you didn't see a blue glow?" Asami fumbles for her pad, only to realise that she left it in her bag. And her bag is in her office.

Mako pauses, blinking. "What? No. Don't be ridiculous."

Asami grits her teeth, muscles tensing and sending a twinge of pain through her thigh. "Mako..."

Asami is angry.

She's angry that Lin sent Asami's ex-boyfriend to ambush her at work. She's angry that he was in so much danger today, and that he could've died twenty feet from her without her even knowing he was there. She's even angrier that her concern for him is threatening to overwhelm her anger at him for the way he treated her when they were dating.

She's angry that Tenzin seems to be considering a deal that would be of dubious value to the paper and would threaten to render Asami useless on the Red Lotus investigation.

She's most angry with herself. Because she doesn't have her notepad, and Mako's account is actually getting interesting.

Asami looks at Korra. Korra is typing notes into her phone. She meets Asami's eyes and offers her a nervous smile. Asami finds herself relaxing.

Korra has the note taking covered. Which makes sense, given she's the one who got Mako talking in the first place. Because, as she's proving more and more all the time, Korra is an absolute treasure.

Asami looks away.

Korra is a treasure of an assistant. Of a colleague. That's all.

And before she can brace herself, the thought hits her: there is a dress Asami hasn't seen yet waiting in a box in her office. What is Korra going to look like in that dress? What is she going to _be_ like on their...fake date?

Asami shakes herself, fiddling with her hair and hoping no can see her blushing. "Mako, uh...it's not ridiculous. I saw the glow, on my phone's camera. And later...are you saying you didn't see it even _once_?"

"No." Mako crosses his arms. "You probably saw muzzle flash. That's all."

"Oh, come on!"

"Do you have any video? Or a picture?" Tenzin asks.

Asami sighs. "No...my phone got, uh...damaged."

"Oh!" Korra sighs, slumping in her seat. She blinks, catching Asami's look and says, "Uh! I mean, oh! That's a shame!"

Mako mutters, "Was that all you needed, or...should I continue with how my partner and I almost died because of that vigilante?"

Asami scowls at him. A dozen possible responses flit through her mind. She glances at Korra, whose thumbs are poised over her phone, who is watching her. Asami sighs. "Go on."

* * *

The sudden appearance of the cyclist coincides with a sudden gust of wind that drives stinging dust into Mako's eyes. But it also causes the gunmen to duck back into the alleyway, buying precious seconds.

For a moment, even as he swipes at his eyes, Mako feels relief.

Then he looks up to see the cyclist leap from her bike and tackle Shen to the ground, slamming an elbow into her face.

Shen's head hits the concrete. Hard.

Before Mako can react, one of the gunmen at the car leaps up and takes a shot at him. By a miracle, he times things so badly that he manages to walk into the bike which, by a still greater miracle of momentum, is still upright and runs right into him, knocking him over.

The other gunmen are distracted. Mako has to do something to change the odds in his favour. So he decides to sprint for the gunmen's sedan, to take the fight to them.

As he begins to move, the cyclist -- who is now crouched over an unmoving Shen -- pulls a pair of pistols and opens fire indiscriminately.

The muzzle flare of her weapons is almost blinding. Mako curses, throwing himself forward. He rolls clumsily, comes up against the driver's side of the car and, realising how bad of a spot he's in, he drops flat and rolls under the car.

One of the gunmen, rushing round the vehicle to flank him, runs headlong into the driver's door when he suddenly opens it, and hits the ground. Mako blinks, but when the driver climbs out of the vehicle, yelling something, he doesn't hesitate. He grabs the man's ankles and yanks as hard as he can, dropping him flat on his face.

By the time Mako scrambles out from under the car, the gunmen in the street are all lying around groaning, Shen is still down, and the vigilante is gone. Mako hears commotion in the café. He hears a scream from the alley. He kicks away the bad guys' pistols, and cuffs the three men to each other.

Next he checks Shen's pulse, letting out a relieved sigh when he finds it steady and strong, and gives himself one second to think.

At the edge of hearing, he detects the faint sound of sirens. He hears another cry from the alleyway. He thinks it might be Opal's voice. 

Mako slides a fresh clip into his pistol and races for the alleyway. The other thugs are down, the delivery van is stopped near the mouth of the alley, its rear doors open. And right in front of him, Opal Beifong is trying to fight off her vigilante kidnapper.

* * *

"Really?!" Korra pauses, very keenly aware both of the way that every eye is, once more, on her and that she doesn't have as good a poker face as Asami.

Mako says, hotly, "Yes. Really. That's how it went down. Your precious vigilante might sell papers, but she's just another thug who-"

Tenzin coughs. "The, ah, Blue Spirit doesn't sell papers. Not yet. She's a curiosity, not news. That could change today, depending on what we can verify."

Mako flushes. "Are you suggesting I'm lying?"

Asami snorts. "No. We're suggesting that your point of view alone provides an...incomplete picture."

"We're saying none of what you said makes any sense!" Korra finds herself subjected to everyone's scrutiny again. "Aren't we? Because I...don't think it...adds up... um."

Tenzin frowns, stroking his beard. "Perhaps we should let detective Mako finish."

Mako rolls his eyes at Korra. "I was there, doing my job. You weren't. You're not even a real reporter. What would you know?"

Beside Korra, Asami stirs angrily. "Mako!"

Korra thrusts out her jaw, anger rising hot in her. Her hand closes in a fist around her phone. She blinks. She hesitates.

Aang says, "Korra...careful!"

Kyoshi appears, snarling, "Strike this arrogant whelp down!"

Korra says, "You, detective Mako...you're...clearly very brave. As is your partner, who I...hope makes a quick recovery. You were risking your life for your partner, and for Opal, and...everyone. And after a morning like that, you're still working, still trying to help. I think you must be a very good cop. And I don't think you're a liar. At all. I'm sorry for implying that."

Asami is staring at her.

Aang sags with relief. "Okay, good!"

Mako blinks, surprised. "Well...uh, alright then. Apology accepted. I think we can move on-"

Korra breathes in, out. "Not finished!"

She locks eyes with Mako, who trails off, blinking.

Korra says, "Now here's what I _know_. In every incident involving the...Blue Spirit she's never used firearms. She's never attacked a cop. She's never harmed anyone who wasn't violent."

Mako scoffs. "That doesn't mean-"

"Your partner was running for cover. The Blue Spirit tackled her from behind, right?" 

"Never saw her coming. It would have been a different story if-"

"So..." Korra scrolls through the notes on her phone , holding it up and pointing when she finds the relevant section. "If your partner's back was to the Spirit, how did she elbow Shen in the face?"

Mako opens his mouth. No words come out.

Korra nods. "Right. And if she wanted to kidnap Opal Beifong, she could have done that three nights ago! She and Opal were alone for several minutes, according to Ms Beifong herself. Why pitch into the middle of a gun battle in broad daylight on a _bicycle_ to kidnap someone you could have easily grabbed already? And how was she planning on getting away with Opal?"

Mako gapes at her. "Well...ah..."

"I may not be a _detective_ , or a real reporter, but those are just a few things that make your story..." 

Asami murmurs, "Prejudiced. Blinkered. Biased..."

Korra blinks at Asami. "Well...uh, okay...yeah? So...maybe things didn't happen exactly the way you think you saw them? And maybe we should hear from the _real_ reporter who _was_ actually there?"

Tenzin watches her, stroking his beard, his mouth hidden from view.

Asami is staring, too, and Korra doesn't dare check to see what her expression is.

Aang says, softly, "Well done."

Kyoshi sniffs. "I would have gone with fire. But..." She takes in Mako's pale face and hanging jaw. "This has its merits, too."

Tenzin stirs himself. "Okay, Korra. So what do _you_ think happened?"

Korra blinks. "Uh..."

"You seem to feel quite strongly that certain of the detective's assumptions are faulty. I'd like to hear how you'd explain what happened, based on what you know so far."

Korra says, "Uh..."

She catches Mako recovering his composure behind a smirk at her discomfort.

Korra narrows her eyes. "Well...I think she was trying to protect detective Shen. And whether she has...superpowers or not, she maybe has...tools? For situations like this? So...based on what we do know about her, it maybe went more like this..."

* * *

Korra's close. She's breathing hard and there's sweat on her skin, but according to Aang, she's almost there. She just needs a few seconds to stash her bike somewhere and...

Gunshots. Yelling. She's late again.

Korra grits her teeth, pulls her scarf up over her face and zooms around the corner, into the fight.

A little way down the street is an alleyway. Two men with submachine guns are coming out of the mouth of the alley, weapons ready. Another man, bleeding from his shoulder, crawls towards a green van parked halfway up the alley.

In the middle of the street, ahead of Korra, a stocky woman is crouched, running for cover. Everything about her stance, her clothes, her close-cropped hair screams RCPD to Korra, even before she catches the glint of the woman's badge on her belt.

Behind the officer, a car is idling in the middle of the road. Two men with pistols are on one side of it, firing towards a tall man across the street. And towards the stores behind him, including a swanky café that must be where Opal is.

The tall guy is ignoring them. He's aiming at the alley.

The driver of the car is leaning out of his window, pointing at his gun at the female cop.

People are going to get hurt. People could die.

"Okay, Korra...you've got this!"

Raava sends a pulse of warmth, of belief coursing through her. Raava's light fills her, spills out of her, and the world seems to shift, seems to come into a new kind of focus.

Korra can feel the air against her skin, the ground below, the water flowing through pipes beneath the ground, the heat in everything around her. She can feel them, not just as physical presences around her, but as _possibilities_ she can shape.

She vaults from her bike. She spins through the air, calling the wind. And, because she has Raava, the wind answers. The wind roars out from her hands in a blast that knocks over the gunmen in the alley.

Korra's shoulder hits the cop's back, knocking her flat as a bullet shrieks past her ear, missing them both by an inch. But to Korra's horror the cop hits the ground hard, her head thumping against concrete.

One of the gunmen behind the car straightens up, aiming at the other cop.

Korra reaches for the particles of earth in the metal frame of her bike and _pushes_. The bike zooms on, slamming into the gunman, who flips head first over it and lands on his back, stunned.

Korra hits the ground. She's left sprawled on the road, and she has a second to think, and that almost proves her undoing.

Because the RCPD officer she tried to save is hurt, and it's her fault. She's in the middle of a lot of guns, and that's scary, but scarier by far is how many other people are around. There's the male cop. The people working in the stores. People who are standing at the windows of apartments staring down at them. An old man who is peering out around the side of his newsstand. 

The customers in the café. Opal.

So much could go wrong, so many more people could be hurt, or killed.

Korra hesitates, her heart pounding and her stomach churning.

Time slows down.

Kyoshi appears in front of her, her expression composed. "This is where you choose. This will happen again and again, Korra, and you will _always_ have to choose. Act. Or do not. It will not always be clear which course is best. But..." Kyoshi's tone hardens, her features arrange themselves into a scowl. "Fear is a mistake. Hesitation is a mistake. Total commitment is the only way to walk this path! So stop lying around and _choose_!"

Korra rises into a crouch. With Korra's perception of time slowed to a crawl, that simple physical action seems to take an eternity. Korra's fear doesn't abate. She wrestles with it, tries to push the fear down, tries to hold it back, tries to think about what to do.

Kyoshi watches her, head tilted. "Strategy? Allow me." She points at the men at the mouth of the alley, recovering after her air blast. She points at the driver of the car and at the other man crouched beside it. "They are your enemies. You have the ability to defeat them. Believe it. _Use it_!"

Korra says, "Okay. Okay, Kyoshi. No more hesitation." Her hands close into fists. "They're the bad guys. They want Opal. They don't care who gets hurt. They need to be stopped. No more doubt. I _can_ stop them." Korra takes a breath. "No more fear. I've _got_ this."

Kyoshi inclines her head. Korra nods to her.

Time flows.

Everything seems to happen at once. Gunmen on both sides of Korra line up their weapons. The cop dives out of cover.

Korra thrusts her arms out to either side. She closes her eyes, reaches inside herself, past her fear and her doubt and finds her anger, her _fury_ at these people who care nothing for the lives of others.

Korra yells, dragging that anger up through her body, pushing it through her arms and unclenching her fists to release it in twin columns of white hot flame that lance out into the sky in a blinding flash.

Korra opens her eyes. The Red Lotus men are reeling, blind and disoriented.

The detective staggers, rolls and scrambles under the sedan.

One of the gunmen stumbles around the end of the car, cursing and rubbing his eyes. Korra superpowers one of the car's doors open, hitting him hard enough to knock him down.

That's all she can do for the cop. But at least it's one on one and he's got the drop on the driver. If she doesn't deal with the other Red Lotus men, those machine guns mean they'll all be dead.

So Korra pushes off and sprints for the alley. The Red Lotus men there were further away from her fireburst. They're quicker to recover. Though they're squinting, they can see well enough to see Korra coming.

Korra pours on more speed. A pair of guns are levelled at her. She's still twenty feet away.

Korra jumps. She calls the wind, and the wind answers, lifting her high and hurling her forward. She cocks her fist behind her ear as she sails through the air. 

A nervous stutter of machinegun fire rips out. Korra can only brace herself as a swarm of bullets buzzes around and past her, punching only empty air.

Korra's arc brings her back to earth right on top the gunmen. She swings her fist as she descends, and if Korra doesn't visit the gym quite as often as she tells her roommate she does, she hits it often enough.

She hits the Red Lotus guy just once. She connects with his jaw hard enough to send him spinning and tottering back several rubbery steps before gravity and unconsciousness reach a consensus that lets him collapse.

Korra doesn't stop moving when she lands. She runs, bullets chasing her, chewing up brick and concrete around her as she races for the opposite alley wall. She charges up it without pausing.

Gravity isn't something she's in the mood to deal with until later. Not when the wind has her back.

The gun clicks empty.

Korra kicks off the wall almost ten feet up, spinning through the air. The Red Lotus man is gaping at her, fumbling to reload his weapon with hands made clumsy by awe. As Korra drops down on him, she throws a kick that slams into his chest.

She hits the ground in a crouch.

He hits the wall behind him, bounces off, and comes stumbling towards her, gun and new magazine falling from his slack hands. Korra explodes out of her crouch, launching an uppercut that lifts him up a couple of inches before decisively putting him down.

There's a second where all Korra can hear is the sound of her own laboured breathing and hammering heart. She knows she can't afford to stop moving, however tempting it might be. She kicks the guns out of the alley, one, two, three. The injured man is out of sight. The other two are down.

Korra starts towards the van.

Suddenly, the café's side door bursts open. A huge woman rushes for the van, her lip bleeding and a struggling Opal Beifong in her arms.

A Red Lotus man follows them. At speed. And at a descending angle. Because he's been knocked out cold.

Korra blinks, wondering what's going on. A second later, she finds out.

Asami Sato tears into the alley, jumping over the downed man, hair streaming behind her, eyes blazing with fury as she charges the big woman.

Korra gasps. "Wow..."

The big woman casually tosses Opal into the van through it's side door before turning to face Asami. "Go!" she barks at the driver.

Asami hurls herself forward, snapping out a kick which the other woman barely blocks. Asami follows up with a flurry of blows, flowing seamlessly between at least three different styles of martial art in an unrelenting onslaught that the other woman simply can't match. She absorbs several hits, lashing out at Asami but never coming close to hitting her.

Korra should really be doing superheroic things, but...she sighs. "Wow!"

Kyoshi appears at Korra's side. "That...is _good_ technique. Better than yours."

"Hey! That's...okay, yeah, she's amazing."

"Yes. You _must_ woo her!"

Korra shakes herself. "Okay, seriously, you need to stop with the personal-"

The van reverses, accelerating rapidly towards Korra and the injured Red Lotus men scattered around the mouth of the alley.

Asami and the Red Lotus woman continue trading blows.

The van looms closer, faster, closer, close.

Korra swallows. "Okay...speeding van...with Opal inside it...n-no problem..." She readies herself. "Still got this, still got this, still got this!"

The van is almost on her.

Korra jumps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> I, uh, got a bit carried away and this is already the longest chapter yet, so Asami's side of the story will appear next time in the thrilling conclusion of: 'How Was Your Day?'!!
> 
> This was fun to write, but also a massive headache. It should hopefully just be fun for you. Please do let me know in the comments if it was more fun or more headachey, though. With feedback, I can fix problems and hopefully avoid them altogether next time!
> 
> Okay, thanks again! I'm having a lot of fun with this, and I'll probably keep going while I have some momentum. So next update soon! :)


	4. How Was Your Day? Finale

Mako laughs outright at Korra's version of events. "Flash bombs? She was _aiming_ her bike at the Red Lotus? Shen was an accident? Ha!"

But...he's nervous. Rattled. Some of her suggestions, outlandish as they are, must sound uncomfortably plausible to Mako.

Asami isn't too keen on it, either. "Korra...I agree that the Blue Spirit was trying to save detective Shen, but...I don't think she uses bombs or...or tools. She has powers. Supernatural abilities. Opal saw it. I...saw it, too."

Korra chews her lip, looking crestfallen. "Oh. I...I mean, it's not that I doubt you! Or Opal! But..."

Asami smiles gently. "It's hard to believe?"

"Try impossible," snaps Mako.

Tenzin says, "I can't print something without proof, Asami. Do you have any evidence?"

"I know what I saw, Tenzin." She stares at him, outwardly composed, inwardly pleading with him to believe her.

Tenzin steeples his fingers and studies her. "Supernatural abilities...it sounds...tabloid, Asami."

It's not the reaction Asami hoped for, but it's not a rejection, either. It's a challenge. He's trying to hide it, but the Blue Spirit has caught his interest. If Asami can find some witnesses to this morning's events, if she can get some solid information...Tenzin's going to let her run with this. He has to!

Asami clears her throat. "Well...I didn't see much of the action in the street. I _did_ see a blue glow, among...other things. And I was in the alley. I saw what happened to the van. You did see that, didn't you, Mako?" 

Mako shifts uncomfortably. "I...saw it. I'm...sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for whatever happened to it."

Korra coughs, turning her head away.

Asami smiles. "Oh, there is. I'll be happy to tell you about it, too!"

Because the van alone is evidence that something remarkable is happening. Bigger even than a kidnapping plot, or a new criminal gang. It's Asami's job to convince them of the truth of what happened this morning.

* * *

Asami stares at the gun with the woman attached to it. It's a large gun, made small only by the size of the hand holding it. It's a steady hand. The muzzle stays fixed on Asami's forehead.

The rest of the woman is even more impressive than the gun, if less immediately of interest to Asami in the circumstances. She's the tallest woman Asami's ever seen. She's more lean than stocky in build, but she's clearly athletic. She radiates a muscular confidence mirrored by the tiny smile on her lips. Her eyes are brown, as is the short cropped hair on her head.

Asami tries to memorise every detail she can, from her tailored suit to the pale band of skin on one finger that suggests she normally wears a ring.

Unfortunately, she doesn't see anything that looks like it's going to help Asami and Opal out of this mess.

Opal slowly stands up, still clutching her clutch. "Okay! Okay. Just leave my friend alone. Where do you want me to go?"

Asami waits until the woman is focused on Opal before she shifts, tensing to move.

The woman doesn't turn her head. She says, "Move again, Ms Sato, and I _will_ shoot you. Ms Beifong...the fire exit, please."

Opal nods. "It's okay, Asami. I'll be fine. I'm going to go with this lady and she won't have to hurt anyone else."

Asami grits her teeth, thinking furiously. Her hands are shaking and her heart is hammering and there's nothing she can _do_ and she hasn't felt this helpless since her mother...

She can't think about that! She has to do something!

But the gun is still on her. She can't risk moving until the situation changes. And she can't see a way to change the situation.

Asami watches Opal, who picks her way through the debris on the floor and eases past a table leg. She offers Asami a fleeting smile. And a tiny, tiny wink.

Asami tries to force down her panic. She needs to be ready.

Opal rounds the edge of the table, stumbles on a broken cup, and drops her clutch. She crouches down, reaching for it automatically.

The woman snaps, "Leave it!"

Opal nods, but she doesn't stand up. She _explodes_ upright, lunging forward and driving the heel of her hand towards the woman's jaw with the whole power of her body behind it.

The gun woman lowers her head and Opal's blow hits her in the mouth instead of the chin, mashing her teeth against her lips. The woman sways slightly.

That's all.

Opal gapes at her.

The kidnapper smirks, even as blood trickles down her chin. "Foolish." She pulls the trigger.

Asami isn't there, of course. As soon as Opal makes her move, Asami drops her phone and the knife, rolls right and grabs the water carafe. When the gun goes off, firing uselessly into the floor, Asami springs up and brings the carafe down on the woman's left hand.

The carafe shatters. The woman grunts as her arm is knocked to the side, but she doesn't lose her grip on the pistol.

Opal lunges forward, delivering a front kick to the woman's hand, knocking the gun loose and sending it skittering across the floor.

The woman responds by snapping out her right hand and seizing Opal's throat. She lifts Opal clear of the ground, cutting off Opal's squeak of alarm as her grip tightens.

Opal makes a choked gasp, then her windpipe closes, and she makes no sound at all.

Asami Sato is not an angry woman. She's had her sorrows in life. Her mother...dying when she was just a child is the greatest of them. But she tries not to let those sorrows overwhelm her. She strives to be in control of herself at all times.

She began martial arts training not long after her mother died. She's found a great deal of satisfaction in the discipline required, and in the release that sparring and training can give her.

And while no amount of discipline, no amount of sparring can shield her from fear, Asami is good at shouting her fear down, at taking action so that the fear can't stop her. But she still feels it.

Until Opal makes that choking sound.

The fear leaves Asami. Something that is to anger what the hard vacuum of space is to a mild winter fills her mind with deadly clarity.

Asami doesn't have an opponent. She has a physics problem. And Asami is _good_ at physics.

She springs up onto the edge of the table, pushes off before something as trivial as balance can cause her any problems, and launches herself at the big woman's head, throwing her right leg out.

The woman is facing Asami head on. She sees it coming. She tucks in her chin, smirking, ready for the blow, sure she can take it. The woman is stronger than Asami; she's bigger, and heavier, too.

But Asami isn't trying to kick her. She hooks her legs around the woman's head, instead, throwing her body forward. The woman is stronger than Asami, but this isn't about strength, it's about leverage. It's Asami's entire body weight, all of her momentum, and the inevitability of gravity against one human's muscles.

It's no contest.

The woman topples, losing her grip on Opal as she does. Asami pushes away, rolling clear as all three of them hit the floor, the kidnapper hardest.

Opal rolls over, gasping. She scrabbles at the floor, pushing herself onto all fours and crawling away.

The big woman snorts, shakes her head and rolls onto her side. She starts to climb to her feet.

Asami takes two running steps and drives her knee into the side of the woman's head.

She drops flat with a grunt.

Asami takes a second to look around, to listen. Outside the window, in the street, the gunfire continues and...there's a blue glow. She's not imagining it!

But there's no way they can go out there. Not with the guns still blazing.

And the kidnapper wanted to take Opal out through the fire exit, which means...

The fire exit is behind her, in the far corner, past the counter.

Asami sucks in a breath. "Opal! Find the gun! And stay in cover!"

Asami sprints for the café counter, vaulting over it and dropping down beside a young barista.

He gapes at her.

Asami says, "I need to borrow your..." Asami reaches behind him and grabs what she needs. "Your fire extinguisher. Okay?"

"Uh...sure?"

"Stay down, and wait for the police." Asami readies herself to move. She pauses, and checks his name tag. "Benny? I'll be back. To settle my bill. And leave a very generous tip."

Benny smiles weakly. "Uh, I just don't wanna get shot, but...thanks...?"

Asami springs up, rolls over the top of the counter and drops to the floor. She stays crouched, moves to the edge of the counter, where she can see the fire exit without being seen.

To her shock, the big woman is getting up again, looking around for Opal, or for her gun, maybe.

Before Asami can decide what to do about that, the fire exit door opens.

Two men in suits, guns in hand, race in.

One of them stops, shocked, and yells, "P'li!"

The other sweeps the room, looking for threats.

Asami makes a note of the name, and that the one on the right is sharper than the one on the left. She springs up and triggers the extinguisher, spraying foam at head height, blinding the gunmen and forcing them to duck and cover their faces.

She charges towards them, still spraying the extinguisher, until the last second when she closes in, right on top of them, crowding them in the doorway. At that point, she changes her grip and swings the extinguisher, bringing it down on the one on the right's head.

The one on the left confirms Asami's theory about his situational awareness by trying to bring his gun in line and shoot her in cramped quarters.

Asami stamps on the instep of his leading foot before his weapon can complete the arc that will bring it to bear against her.

He yells in pain, squeezing the trigger and firing a round into the wall behind Asami. The sound of the gunshot is almost deafening, but Asami doesn't hesitate. She brings the extinguisher down on his gun hand, drives her knee into his stomach and raises the extinguisher up to finish him when he doubles over.

Before she can, she's grabbed from behind and dragged back.

Asami tries to swing the extinguisher behind her, but she's off balance, can't see, and connects with nothing. She tries to dig in her heels, find her balance, but she's plucked from the ground effortlessly and hurled aside like she's a broken doll.

Asami tosses the extinguisher, worried she might brain herself. Her leg slams into the side of the counter and she throws her hands out before her head can hit the floor. She lands heavily, jarring her whole body. For a second, all she can do is lie there, panting, too dizzy to move.

Benny pops his head round the counter. "Um...miss? Do you want this now?"

He's holding out a first aid kit.

Asami shakes herself. "Maybe...later...thanks." She pushes herself upright and tries to focus.

One of the gunmen is out. The other is down, groaning and clutching his stomach.

P'li is stooped over him, plucking something from inside his jacket.

Opal comes hustling towards Asami, her wide green eyes full of concern. "Asami! Are you okay?"

"Yeah...fine...you...?"

"I'm okay!" Benny calls from somewhere near the floor, sticking his raised thumb up above the counter.

Opal grimaces. "I think I swallowed my gum and...oh, crap!"

Asami turns, wincing, to see P'li bearing down on them. She's holding a Future Industries model X-5 stun gun in her left fist.

The X-5 is a police grade non-lethal close combat weapon. It delivers a jolt of electricity through the two prongs on the head of the weapon. Brief contact is painful and debilitating. Sustained contact of more than a few seconds can stun, incapacitate or even render an individual unconscious.

Asami knows this, and a great many other things, including the schematics, because Future Industries is her father's company and the X-5 is a weapon that he personally oversaw the development of. It's not for civilian use. It shouldn't be in a street thug's hand.

"Ms Beifong...Ms Sato...this has been a pleasant dance." P'li grins, her teeth stained with blood. "But it is over now."

Asami flexes her leg muscles. Nothing seems to be broken. She steps between P'li and Opal. "Nice weapon. You Red Lotus must have some interesting connections..."

P'li's smile widens. "So observant, Ms Sato. So devoted to pursuing the story! Yes, I'm Red Lotus. But there's much more to our cause than you can imagine. Ha!"

She breaks off, lunging forward, using her long legs and arms to cover the distance between them. Asami imagines that P'li's reach and her calm speaking voice must be quite distracting for most opponents. Most opponents would lose a precious second adjusting to the attack, one that would allow P'li to strike before they could hope to react.

But Asami has been waiting for the move. Asami yells, "Benny! Kit!"

He thrusts it up towards her. Asami snatches it from him as P'li jabs the X-5 at her. She blocks the prongs with the kit, angling it and her body so that the stun gun slides past her, sparking and crackling and scorching the plastic as P'li pulls the trigger.

For a second, P'li is off balance. Asami twists, throwing out her arm and driving the kit into P'li's mouth. It's not a hard blow, being at the limit of Asami's reach, but P'li flinches back.

Asami takes a step back. She snaps open the clasps on the kit. She waits. Opal is at her shoulder, just behind her.

Opal whispers, "I couldn't find the gun, Asami, but I got your phone-"

P'li roars and charges at them.

Asami hurls the kit at her head. It flies open, scattering packets of gauze, plasters, gloves, briefly blinding and distracting P'li. Asami dives to her right, scoops up the _other_ thing that fell out of the kit, and springs upright.

And wobbles, losing balance for a vital fraction of a second when her leg twinges in pain.

P'li ignores Asami. She charges ahead, closing in on Opal. Opal launches a kick at P'li's knee, turning her leg, but not dropping her. It barely even slows her. Opal follows up with a punch to the gut, but P'li accepts it, absorbs it, and jabs the stun gun into Opal's side.

Opal cries out, back arching, as the current passes through her.

Asami hurls herself at P'li, throwing her body against P'li's arm, dragging it down and breaking the contact with Opal's body after barely a second.

Opal staggers away, leaning against the counter on shaky legs.

P'li tries to shove Asami away, but Asami clings on with her left hand, braces a foot against P'li's hip and wrenches the other woman's arm around. Asami brings her right arm up and down in a short arc, stabbing the pair of surgical scissors she took from the floor into the stun gun.

Right through the casing. Right through the battery contacts.

P'li shoves again, and Asami kicks off her hip, diving away, rolling and coming up ready. P'li grabs at Opal, shoving the stun gun into her side and pulling the trigger.

It sparks once. Nothing else happens.

P'li stares stupidly at the weapon. 

Opal groggily tries to punch her, but P'li swats the blow aside.

Asami advances warily on P'li. The big woman snarls and hurls the broken stun gun at Asami, forcing her to duck.

What sounds like machine gun fire starts up outside.

P'li curses, snatches Opal up and runs for the fire exit.

The still conscious Red Lotus man pulls himself to his feet, blocking the fire exit.

Asami doesn't hesitate. She charges right at him.

* * *

Asami pauses when Korra clears her throat.

Korra purses her lips, reading back over her very short notes. "Um...Ms Sa- Ah! Asami! Um...are you sure 'you, Opal, and the Red Lotus woman who was identified as P'li...scuffled in Varrickoffee's. Opal was hit with a stun gun' is...uh, all you want to say?"

Mako's staring at her, too. "Asami...I saw the scene afterwards...there's no way that's the whole story!"

Asami shrugs. "I already gave a statement to the RCPD. P'li's name and the stun gun at the scene are the most relevant details. We fought. Opal was shocked. Though only for a second, luckily. P'li ran with Opal. I followed them into the alley. The interesting stuff happened after that."

Korra shifts in her seat, clearly wrestling with something. Asami catches Korra's eyes straying to Asami's injured leg. Asami tries not to wince. She thought she'd done a better job of hiding the limp.

Korra says, "I think what happened in the café sounds pretty interesting, too, Asami! You made P'li _run_! You...you're a hero."

Asami shakes her head. "No, I...just...I'm a reporter. I'm not the story. P'li wanted Opal. She ran because she had her. And I wouldn't have been able to stop her. In fact, I'd probably be dead if it wasn't for-"

"The Blue Spirit did _not_ save Opal," Mako snaps. "Or you! You were both brave and resourceful, and Opal-"

"Don't you mean the 'vigilante?'" Korra asks far too innocently to be innocent.

Mako's face gets red. "The point is-"

Asami locks eyes with Tenzin, who is listening and watching carefully. She says, "The point is that the Blue Spirit absolutely saved Opal. And, at the very least because she knocked out the gunmen in the alley, she saved me. And she saved all of us because she has powers and she chooses to use them to help people. And _that_ is where the story is."

Tenzin sighs. "Alright, Asami. Tell us the story."

* * *

Asami's too late. She's too slow. The Red Lotus gunman doesn't stop her for long, but for long enough.

Asami springs over his unconscious body, storming into the alley, ignoring the pain in her leg, her side, her back. She's focused only on P'li's fleeing figure, on Opal, struggling groggily in her grasp.

The alley is shockingly bright after the relatively dim interior of Varrickoffee's. P'li makes for a red and white van that sits there with its side door open.

Asami only gets a glimpse inside, but it looks like there are two more men in the back, as well as a driver up front.

P'li hurls Opal into the van, yelling, "Go!"

She whirls to face Asami.

Asami screams in rage and frustration as the van door slams, as the engine rumbles to life.

She was too slow!

She closes on P'li, and her world shrinks to the size of the woman in front of her. If nothing else, Asami is going to take P'li _down_.

She launches attack after attack, striking, shifting, dodging and deflecting counter attacks and pummeling P'li with everything she has. P'li grunts, again and again, absorbing hits that would drop most people, swinging blows with bonecrushing force at Asami.

Asami ducks under a punch and drives her fist into the side of P'li's knee, buckling her leg. Asami springs upright, avoiding another punch that leaves P'li off balance, and drives her knee into P'li's stomach.

P'li gasps, her leg gives out, and she ends up on one knee, pained disbelief on her face.

Asami hears a muffled cry from her right. She looks around, breathing hard from her exertions. The van is accelerating away, with Opal inside, but maybe she can still catch it...

P'li lurches forward, snagging Asami's belt in two thick fingers. With a roar, she heaves herself up, driving her shoulder into Asami's chest.

Asami rolls with it as best she can, leaping up and flipping over P'li's shoulder. She lands awkwardly, stumbling back into the far wall of the alley, with the wind knocked out of her.

P'li isn't in much better shape. She glares at Asami, propping herself against the opposite wall with one arm as she sucks in lungfuls of air.

P'li pushes herself off the wall, swaying slightly but slowly grinning. "Getting...tired, Ms...Sato?"

Asami shakes her head. She casts around, looking for a weapon, for some way to stop this woman. There's a fire escape for the building she's leaning against just ten feet to her right. Maybe if she could get there...

But that would mean abandoning Opal...

Asami hesitates, trying to recover her breathing.

P'li closes in slowly, her shadow falling over Asami.

Asami grits her teeth and straightens up, raising her hands into a combat stance.

P'li smiles a bloody smile.

Blue light floods the alleyway.

Asami and P'li both look round.

P'li says, " _You_!"

Asami gasps, "The Blue Spirit!"

The van is almost out of the alleyway when the Blue Spirit leaps on top of it.

She's wearing loose, dark clothes, a hood over her head and a scarf over her face, but blue light spills out of the shadow of her hood and a pale blue nimbus surrounds her.

She darts along the rooftop, dives into a roll when gunshots punch through the roof from the interior of the van, and leaps into the air. She drops over the windshield, throwing her open palm down at the hood of the van.

The blue light intensifies. The metal of the hood buckles before the Spirit even touches it, metal crumpling and shards of paint flying off in a dozen different directions.

Her palm slams into the hood. The back of the van bucks, slewing the vehicle into the alley wall, robbing it of much of its momentum.

It loses the rest when half of the engine spills out of the van's now ruptured front, dragging along the ground for a few feet in a screaming shower of sparks before the van coasts to a halt.

The Blue Spirit kicks off from the van, hits the ground, rolls and comes up facing Asami and...

P'li!

But when Asami turns, P'li is already on the bottom rung of the fire escape. She pauses, nodding at Asami. "Ms Sato! A gift for a worthy foe. Her true name...is _Raava_."

Asami blinks. "What? You know the Blue Spirit...?"

P'li laughs, and begins hauling herself up the ladder.

Asami hears the sound of shattering glass. She turns in time to see the Blue Spirit dive through what's left of the van's windscreen.

Asami pushes P'li from her mind. "Opal!"

She jogs towards the van.

* * *

Mako shakes his head. "She...punched the engine out? It had to have been a bomb or...or something! There's no way-"

Asami smiles. "Well, once an RCPD forensics team have investigated, I'll look forward to hearing about what kind of device was used."

Korra snorts and quickly fakes another cough. Asami pretends she doesn't notice.

Mako gives Korra a dark look. "Asami...Tenzin! You can't print this!"

"No," Tenzin says, calmly. "Not that the decision has anything to do with you detective, but...no. There isn't enough here."

Asami leans forward, mouth opening but Tenzin raises his hand. "Yet. There isn't enough yet. Now...wasn't there something about the Blue Spirit assaulting Ms Beifong...?"

Mako nods. "She was struggling with the Blue...vigilante, and that's when she...well, that part doesn't matter..."

Asami sighs. "I...think, uh, it isn't relevant to our story...or your investigation, Mako. Opal is...very grateful to the Blue Spirit. She wasn't, uh, under attack. That's all that matters."

Tenzin frowns. "But there is more, isn't there? You're telling me you didn't even try to question this...Spirit?"

Asami carefully avoids the others' eyes. "Well...boss, she...she didn't say _much_..."

Tenzin says, "Quit stalling, Asami. Let's hear it."

Asami sighs. "Okay..."

* * *

The van rocks from side to side a few times as Asami approaches. Through the windshield, Asami can see that the driver is out cold and can just make out a struggle going on in the back.

Asami jogs to the back of the van, yanks open the rear door, and...stops.

The two Red Lotus men she saw earlier are unconscious. The Blue Spirit is crouched in the middle of the van, cradling Opal's body in her arms. Opal appears to be unconscious. And the Spirit's hands are moving above Opal's body. And they're...glowing.

The Spirit's focused on Opal, her head turned down. Asami can't see her features at all. What she _can_ see is...a very cheap, stained and tattered hoodie and sweat pants combo. An old scarf. All washed often enough to be closer to charcoal in colour rather than the original black.

Asami can smell sweat, cheap deodorant, and something oddly familiar that she can't quite place. Something...citrusy? Some kind of shampoo?

She's real, and she has real powers and...she's _really_ scruffy.

This isn't the Blue Spirit's job. This isn't a planned outfit, this is...improvisation. With whatever materials were at hand. Which were very few, apparently. Whoever she is, the Spirit isn't wealthy. And...she isn't being supported by anyone wealthy. She _can't_ be.

She's not with the Red Lotus. She's...probably not with any organisation at all.

She's probably...alone.

Asami backs away from the van, clearing her throat. "Is...is Opal...my friend...is she okay?"

The Blue Spirit waves her hand. The glow ceases and water rains from her fingertips, pattering onto the floor of the van. She picks Opal up gently and carries her to the back of the van. Asami reaches up but the Spirit steps off the back of the van and...floats gently to the ground without disturbing Opal at all.

" _I had to stop that guy's bleeding first, but she seems fine. She has no serious injuries, anyway, in spite of the bumpy ride. I took care of the worst of the bruises. She should wake up feeling, uh...refreshed._ "

Her voice is like...it's like nothing Asami has ever heard before. It's almost like she's using some kind of electronic voice changer, but no device could make a human voice sound like...like a sighing wind blowing through a warm fire.

Her voice isn't quite human. Her voice is...beautiful.

Unforgettable.

Asami tries to stay professional. "I'm Asami Sato of the _Republic City Chronicle_. And you...don't sound completely sure of yourself. Why is that?"

" _I am! Mostly! This is just, uh...ne-never mind!_ "

"You were going to say 'new!' You're new to all of this, aren't you?"

" _N-no! Uh...look, I can't talk about that stuff. I need to go...sorry._ " The Blue Spirit glances around, at the wrecked van, the alley strewn with shell casings and unconscious men, at Opal draped in her arms, and says, " _Uh...sorry about the mess, too..._ "

Asami snorts. "Seriously? So...should I call you Blue Spirit? Or...Raava?"

Her face is mostly covered. It's hard to read. But her shock is obvious.

" _How...did you know that name?_ "

"Then...it really _is_ you!"

But the other woman shakes her head. " _No! I...it's complicated. But I'm not Raava. I'm Raava's...friend. Just call me Blue Spirit. Since, uh...I have a name, now...which is great..._ "

"You still don't sound sure..." Asami takes a breath, thinking. "Look...I believe you're trying to do good. But you need to tell me who these Red Lotus people are and why they want Opal. You can't go after them alone!"

The Blue Spirit groans. " _I know! But I don't know! I mean, I don't get why a gang of supposed art thieves has so much muscle! And firepower! And why are they coming after Opal like this?_ " She looks over her shoulder, pausing for a second. " _Right! Yes, okay! I'm...working on it. Um, are you okay? Do you need-_ "

"I'm fine!" Asami narrows her eyes. "Look. That's my best friend in your arms. They've gone after her _twice_ and both times you've been there! Don't tell me you don't know...any...thing..."

Asami trails off when the Spirit looks at her directly. Her features are difficult to make out between the hood and the scarf, but her _eyes_! 

Her eyes are vast suns Asami is seeing from an immeasurable distance away. Her eyes make Asami feel very small. Her eyes, somehow, make her feel like that's not a bad thing. It's just a fact. The being behind those eyes is...much bigger than Asami. And much better, too, because Asami can sense no judgement in those eyes.

The Blue Spirit says, softly, " _I'm sorry. It's the truth. I'm... on the case, though. I don't want anyone getting hurt._ "

"Oh..." Asami looks away, unable to maintain eye contact. Unable to reconcile the power the Blue Spirit radiates with the earnest vulnerability in her voice. "I...didn't even say thank you, did I?"

Even with her face covered, Asami can tell that the other woman is smiling. " _That's okay! I didn't do much, anyway!_ "

Asami raises her eyebrows and gestures around them. "You did all this. You saved my friend. She means a lot to me...she's...oh, no...she's _awake_!"

Opal is awake. She's nestling happily into the Blue Spirit, and sighing.

Asami snaps, "Opal _Beifong_! Stop...swooning! And...and _nuzzling_! Right now!"

The Blue Spirit looks down at Opal, startled.

Opal looks up at her and flutters her eyelashes. "Hiiii! Thanks for the save, again! You _must_ let me repay you! How about, oh, I don't know...hey, random thought but, dinner, maybe? Tomorrow at eight works for me, so..."

Asami pinches the bridge of her nose. "Opal..."

" _Uh...you're welcome! How is, uh...your...boyfriend?_ "

From her position in the Blue Spirit's arms, Opal lowers her eyes and reaches out to toy with one of the drawstrings on the Spirit's hoodie.

"Oh, he's okay, thanks to you!" Opal goes for her most devastating move: the up from under look with her huge green eyes partially lidded. "He's okay with a _lot_ of things. So...I was thinking the Imperial? I know it's a hotel, but their restaurant is really good and...it's a hotel."

The Blue Spirit says, " _Uh..._ " She looks at Asami and for all the power in those eyes, she mostly looks nervous about the relentless Beifong happening in her arms. " _Help?_ "

Asami rolls her eyes. "Well, she certainly is _refreshed_! Opal! Quit it! Blue Spirit! Put her down. She's a complete embarrassment, but otherwise she's fine."

The Blue Spirit gently lowers Opal's feet to the ground.

Opal steps away, sways, and with a loud squeal falls against the Blue Spirit, throwing an arm around her neck. "Oops! Dizzy! So sorry..." Opal lowers her voice to what she thinks is a whisper. "Say, did you know that they have rooms with _beds_ in them in hotels these days?"

Opal meets the Blue Spirit's impossible eyes, flutters her eyelashes and giggles.

Asami rubs her face, groaning.

The Blue Spirit flusters, " _Uh...uh...uh...I should go...I think I can hear sirens..._ "

" _Opal_! Stop... _everything_ you're doing! Please!" Asami grits her teeth. "We should pool our resources to investigate the Red Lotus. We both want them off the street, right? Is there some way we can contact you, Blue Spirit?"

"For example, I could give you my number," Opal says quickly.

The Blue Spirit hesitates. " _Um...I'll find some safe way to contact you at your paper, Ms Sato! And, uh, no thanks are necessary, Opal! All part of the job! Not that I get paid, or anything, but it's not really a hobby, so...well, yeah, police coming, so going now!_ "

She gently tries to disentangle herself from Opal, who sighs reluctantly. "Fiiine! Rain check on dinner, then..." Her eyes widen as she catches sight of something over the Blue Spirit's shoulder. "Uh oh! Mako! Everybody follow my lead!"

Asami swivels, gaping as her ex comes racing round the corner, his pistol ready. Mako freezes for a second, taking in the sight of the Blue Spirit trying to wrangle Opal out of her arms.

He roars, "Let her GO!" He rushes at them.

Opal wheels round screaming, "Ahh! Red Lotus attacker!" She punches him in the jaw hard enough to knock him flat on his back and leave him dazed and groaning.

Opal says, in a theatrically loud voice, "Oh, no! It is actually detective Mako from my protective detail and not a Red Lotus gang member! How awful! What have I done et cetera, et cetera...yeah, he's out of it." 

Asami exchanges a stunned look with the Blue Spirit. They both stare at Opal.

Opal glares back at Asami. "What? I didn't see _you_ coming up with anything! And don't tell me part of you didn't enjoy seeing that!"

Asami hesitates. "Well..."

Opal rounds on the Blue Spirit. "And you! Since I'm probably never getting another chance, _especially_ since I could go to jail now..."

Opal grabs the front of the Blue Spirit's hoodie with one hand, yanks her forward, and grabs the scarf with the other. She flips the edge up over the Blue Spirit's nose, exposing her mouth and silences her protest by jamming her lips against the other woman's.

Asami can only watch in disbelief as Opal kisses the glowing woman for a very long second. Or two. Or three. Four...

Asami coughs. "Okay, yeah, I can definitely hear sirens and Mako is waking up!"

Opal pulls away, smirking. "There. That was to say thanks. Though I still owe you, if you ever need help. Okay?" She tugs the scarf down over the Blue Spirit's still open mouth. "Go on, you! Can't have the police nabbing you. Run along!"

The Blue Spirit blinks. She shoots Asami an almost apologetic look and takes off at a sprint out of the alley, back into the street.

Asami stares after her. "What...just happened...?"

Opal sighs. "Well...in descending order of importance...we both survived, mostly thanks to you, because you're already the greatest maid of honour _ever_. And...let's see...the Blue Spirit's muscles are confirmed wow with all the exclamation marks, her lips are amazingly soft, and she's a pretty good kisser! That last one would rank higher, but...circumstances. And shock. Hmm...also, I've definitely earned another glass of champagne! Oh, and, uh...don't be mad, but..."

Asami throws an arm around her friend, pulling her into a hug and not even trying to fight the grin on her face. "Mad _der_ , Opal. The word is...madder."

Behind Opal, Mako groans and starts to climb groggily to his feet.

Opal hugs Asami tightly. She whispers, "I did something...kinda bad..." 

"What? I mean, what else?" Asami squeezes her and tries not to collapse as relief and adrenaline comedown crash over her.

Opal tells Asami in a hurried whisper. It's the last chance they get to talk, before the sirens, and everything that comes with them, makes further talk impossible.

They hold each other for as long as they can before the RCPD separates them to take their statements.

* * *

Tenzin frowns. "So...she claims she doesn't know who the Red Lotus are..."

Mako shakes his head. "And you believe her? And you believe she was helping Opal?"

Asami carefully refrains from mentioning that Opal was mostly helping herself. "She was. I can...understand your confusion, Mako, but Opal was...perfectly safe..."

Tenzin makes a sweeping gesture with one hand, dismissing Opal entirely. "Very well. Asami, I would like you to put together a file for the detective. Everything you have on the Red Lotus that doesn't compromise your sources."

Mako stirs. "That's a...start. I'll need the Blue Spirit stuff, too. Today. If you can send it-"

Tenzin's eyes harden. "Mako...if Lin believed there was something that Asami had that would lead her to the Red Lotus, she would be here herself. Don't mistake my courtesy for more than it is. Now. If that's all...?"

Mako rocks back in his seat. "Ah...I...see. I'll...show myself out."

He shoots a look at Asami as he leaves, but he doesn't say anything.

When the door closes behind him, Tenzin says, "Asami...what weren't you saying in front of the detective?"

Korra, who has been sitting quietly reviewing her notes, looks up, blinking. "Huh?"

Asami smiles. "We're reporters, Korra. We have a job to do. It isn't telling the police every detail. People talk to us that won't talk to the police. If we betray that trust, people won't talk to us."

"And we can find out things that the police can't," Tenzin adds. "And -- sometimes -- bring things to light that otherwise might remain in darkness." Tenzin smiles, sadly. "At our best. At our very rare best. So...Asami?"

Asami nods. "P'li gave me a name. Raava."

Korra says, "She...did? Uh...why?"

Tenzin's brow furrows. "Indeed. Why would she...is this someone in the Red Lotus?"

"No. P'li said it was the Blue Spirit's...real name. But the Spirit said Raava was her...friend. Have either of you heard that name?"

Korra quickly shakes her head.

Tenzin says, "Can't say I have. But...shelve it for now, Asami."

Asami freezes. "What? Boss, you can't mean-"

"The Red Lotus are the story. If you're pursuing that, you won't have time for the Spirit. If she turns out to be involved, you'll find some threads. And if she isn't, you'll be able to work the Blue Spirit later. You... _do_ intend to follow the Red Lotus, don't you?"

Asami clenches her fists. "You know I do! But the Blue Spirit-"

"Can wait," Tenzin says, firmly. "I need you focused on this, Asami. Now...is there anything else?"

Asami glances at Korra, who is nervously watching her. She thinks about what Opal told her earlier. 

She meets Tenzin's expectant gaze. "No. Nothing leaps out."

Tenzin nods. "Then go to work on that column. Let's leave...speculation about powers out of things for now."

Asami gets up, keeping her expression as neutral as she can. "Fine. Korra, let's go."

Korra quickly stands, but Tenzin says, "No. I need a minute with Korra."

Asami hesitates, exchanging a confused look with Korra. "Why...?"

Tenzin raises his eyebrows. "Because. Column. One hour. Go."

Asami grits her teeth. She goes.

She finds Mako waiting for her beside the elevator.

Asami ignores him, turning towards the stairs.

"Asami!" He chases her. "Wait up!"

"I have a deadline. Very busy." Asami starts down the stairs.

"Hold on! We need to tal-"

" _No_!" Asami whirls on him, shoving his chest and pinning him to the landing wall. " _You_ left _me_ for someone else, Mako. And I've made my peace with that, but you do _not_ get to tell me what _we_ need to do. Ever. Again."

Mako slowly raises his hands. "I...know. That was a poor choice of words on my part...sorry."

Asami blinks. She backs away, folding her arms. "What do you want?"

Mako sighs, lowering his arms. "I want you and Opal to be safe. Are you...are you still going to the auction? Because-'"

"The Red Lotus are probably going to target the auction? Yeah, it seems likely to me, too. And yeah, I'm still going." Asami rubs her face wearily. "You can't stop me, Mako."

He chuckles. "When could I ever? I was, uh, I was offering to go with you. Just as backup!"

Asami snorts. "I already have a date, thanks."

His eyes widen. "Oh! Uh...I see. Well. Good. That's...good. Can I ask..."

"No."

"Right. Of course. Sorry."

Asami sighs. "I'll...put that file together. Okay? And...I'm sure you'll find a way into the party, so...see you tonight?"

Mako nods. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm going to watch Bolin and Opal's backs. And...yours. Especially if you won't take that protective detail..."

"Not a chance." Asami hesitates. "I'm...glad you're okay. After this morning..."

"I am. Other than running into Opal's right cross," he says wryly. "But...yeah. Same. I'd better get back to showing myself out."

Asami tries a smile. It takes less effort than she thought it would. "And I've got a deadline, so..."

He nods. "See you."

He takes the stairs down. 

Asami, with no small sense of relief for her throbbing leg, goes back and takes the elevator.

* * *

Korra sits down in front of Tenzin, clutching her phone.

Tenzin watches her over his steepled fingers.

Aang watches her from the chair beside her. 

"Could you not, Aang? It's...weird having you both just staring at me!"

Aang vanishes. Korra misses him as soon as he's gone, and wonders what her life has become that she misses a ghost who lives in her...s-word.

Suddenly, Tenzin says, "Do you know why you're here, Korra?"

"Um...no? I thought I was in trouble, but..."

He sighs. "You are. But not with me."

Korra tries to figure that out. "I...know the Red Lotus are dangerous, but I'm not on their radar. Even if I was, I want to do my part."

Tenzin smiles, shaking his head. "I wanted to see what you were made of. And how you were getting on with Asami. I'm impressed with what I saw. And it's clear that Asami likes you. I know now that I can trust you to work this story with her. But, Korra..." Tenzin pauses, frowning. "I need a favour from you."

Korra shifts uneasily. "Like what?"

Tenzin grimaces. "Asami...earned her place as our top investigative reporter. She's young, but she's brilliant, tenacious and she gives her all to a story. She gives too much, sometimes. Look out for her, Korra. Please."

Korra rubs her neck. "Oh. Of course! I...I'll try."

He smiles. "I see a lot of potential in you, Korra. You have good instincts, a keen mind. My door is always open if you need anything. Even if it's just to vent. You are not alone here. If you ever feel overwhelmed, or if things are getting to be too much, tell me. Alright?"

Korra smiles. "I will. Thanks, so...uh, sir!"

Tenzin nods. "Alright. Get to work."

Korra smiles when she's in the privacy of the elevator. "Hey, Aang?"

He appears beside her, leaning against the wall. "Korra?"

"I think you raised a good kid."

He grins. "Didn't his mother and I, though?"

* * *

In her office, Asami Sato sits at her computer and tries to work up the opening paragraph of her column. She tries not to think about her phone.

The one that did not, in fact, get damaged. The one that Opal picked up. The one that Opal decided to stash in the Blue Spirit's hoodie pocket while she was kissing her.

The one that Asami installed tracking software on, in case it was ever stolen. She checks the progress of the tracking app download on her work computer. It shouldn't take long.

Asami tries to focus on her column, but she can't. Not fully. She sighs. "Sorry, boss. But I won't just let the Blue Spirit go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whatever will happen!? Is Korra going to be unmasked?!?!!? Tune in next week to find out!?!??!!!
> 
> Oh, wait, that one wasn't a question. Chapter 5 will be coming your way next week!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	5. Bids Pt. 1

P'li winces as she peels off her shirt. The reporter, Sato, proved to be quite the formidable foe. It's been some time since P'li took a beating like that. It's been quite some time she failed.

She uses a washcloth to clean some of the blood from her face and her neck, hissing when the cloth rubs against her split lip. "Next time, Ms Sato," she mutters darkly to the bathroom mirror.

P'li doesn't hear him come in, but silence and stillness are old habits of his. No one ever hears him until he's ready to move. She just...knows he's there, suddenly, as a dark shadow in the corner of her eye.

He walks up to her, dark eyes inscrutable. "P'li."

Just her name, with no particular inflection. There is no particular expression readable in the planes and crags of his face.

P'li hangs her head. "I...underestimated Ms Beifong. And Asami Sato is...impressive. And tenacious."

"Oh?" He runs a rough finger across her ribs, tracing the shape of one of her fresh bruises.

P'li meets his eyes. They're curious, but otherwise almost entirely empty. She shivers as his fingers trail across the hard muscles of her stomach. "We still have an opportunity tonight. And...Raava was there. That's why I left."

Zaheer inclines his head, perhaps an inch. His hand curls around her hip. "Ah. Two pieces of good news."

"Two?"

He smiles. "You made it back."

P'li wipes the rest of the blood from her mouth, sighing. "I...also told Asami Sato that her Blue Spirit is Raava."

Zaheer's smile widens. "Ms Sato? The tenacious investigator? Clever." He kisses P'li on the side of the mouth, carefully avoiding the cut that Opal Beifong gave her. "Clean up. I'll look out my tuxedo for tonight."

* * *

Opal Beifong lounges on a couch in her mother's study holding an ice pack to the knuckles of her right hand and trying to think while her mother and her aunt argue.

"I can't believe you're going ahead with this, Su," growls auntie Lin, planting her fists on mother's desk. "No, wait. It's reckless and irresponsible! I _can_ believe it."

Suyin Beifong, seated behind the desk, composed and elegant, yawns. "Must we always have the same conversation whenever we have a conversation? It does get tiresome after nearly forty years."

Lin scoffs. "Surely even you can realise that these Red Lotus are organised and that they're targeting this auction! Going ahead with this will expose-"

"Lin." Suyin examines the sheen of her perfectly manicured nails. Patiently she says, "Surely _you_ realise that I can't cancel now. That a lot of people have travelled to be here. That we're trying to raise money for the new hospital. That we have the best security I can afford and that with you and the RCPD there, we'll be as safe as anyone can be." Mother spikes Lin with a glare and puts steel into her voice. "Opal will certainly be safer at the auction than she appears to be on the _streets_ that _you_ patrol!"

"Will my officers be safe around Opal?" grouses auntie Lin.

Mother shoots to her feet, leaning on her desk, right in Lin's face. "How dare you!"

Opal sighs. Loudly.

Suyin looks at her and rolls her eyes. "Are we boring you, dear?"

Lin glowers at her. "How's the hand?"

Opal flexes her fingers experimentally. "It's feeling better, thank you, auntie. And I'm so sorry about Mako!"

Lin snorts, turning her back on Su and perching on her antique desk, making it creak in protest. "Yes. The complete accident. That let that vigilante escape."

"Such a pity," Opal says cheerfully. "I'm overcome with regret and remorse over here!"

Mother frowns at her. "You do look a little pensive, darling."

Opal blinks. "What? Me? Uh, I mean, about Mako, sure!"

Lin shakes her head, a thin smile breaking through her habitual scowl. "Oh, stop it! It was no accident. Ha! Knocking out your soon to be brother-in-law! If you had as much sense as you have spirit, I could use you on the force."

Opal blushes. "Auntie! That's...the nicest thing you've ever said about me! Thank you."

Suyin chuckles. "Oh, I think the one you need to deputise is this vigilante. How many of these crooks has she helped put behind bars now? While saving Opal? Twice?"

Opal winces. "She saved Bolin, too. I...really owe her, mother."

Lin snaps, "Nonsense!"

At the same time Suyin says, "You'll stay away from her, Opal Beifong!"

The sisters blink and glare at each other.

Lin says, accusingly, "The vigilante is a menace! And her involvement could taint the prosecution against the _very_ low-level Red Lotus members she knocked out. They could end up back on the streets because of her!"

"Perhaps." Suyin inclines her head. "But she helped stop...hmm...what? Over a dozen Red Lotus gang members? Across two attacks? She's effective."

"Right!" Opal says. "Because she's-"

" _Dangerous_ , darling." Suyin shakes her head. "You used to be such a timid thing. I love you, Opal, and I'm proud of who you are. But sometimes I wish you were still..."

"Twelve?" Opal asks, sullenly. She doesn't much like to remember the shy, scared girl she was before she started learning martial arts. Before she met Asami. 

Suyin sighs. "No. Just...cautious. At least sometimes." Suyin crosses to the couch and kisses Opal's forehead. "You can't help that vigilante. I hope you never _need_ her help again. And if you ever see her again..."

Lin steps in front of Opal, folding her arms. "You'll tell the police. And let me handle it."

Opal looks from one serious face to the other. "I'm okay," she says, quietly. "But only because of Asami. And the Blue Spirit." Lin scowls, and Suyin opens her mouth, so Opal quickly adds, "But...I hope I don't see her again either. Because I'd hate to have to turn over to the police."

Suyin smiles, and presses another kiss against her forehead. "I understand. And I know you'll do the right thing."

Lin studies Opal. "Yes, well. I'm sure you'll do what you _think_ is the right thing..."

Opal smiles at her. "I love you, too, auntie Lin."

Lin groans. "Ugh. Why can't you be more like your brothers?"

Opal tips her head, thinking. "...out of town?"

"Ha! That, too," Li says. "But I was thinking more about how pompous they are. Ugh! I hate that I actually like you."

Opal laughs, enjoying her mother's scandalised expression.

"Lin!" Suyin glares at her. "They're your nephews!"

"So? You're my sister, and you drive me crazy."

Suyin draws herself to her full height. "Anything else, _captain_? I have preparations to make."

Suyin turns and walks stiffly back to her desk.

Lin shrugs. "I've made my recommendation. You were always going to ignore it, but some of us have to play by the rules and do our jobs. I'll see you tonight, Su. Opal."

Opal springs from the couch and throws her arms around her aunt, making her grunt in surprise, sending the ice pack soaring off into a corner, and almost tumbling them both to the floor.

"Bye, auntie Lin!"

Lin groans, but one of her arms briefly and awkwardly wraps around Opal. Lin whispers, "If you aren't going to be sensible, at least be smart, Opal. I'm...fond of you, too."

Opal laughs and squeezes Lin. "Aww! And I promise: I'll be smart."

Lin pulls away, gives her one last reluctant smile, and leaves.

Opal pauses, chewing her lip, then flops back on the couch. She tugs out her phone, but Bolin's still busy with his publicist, and Asami...doesn't have her phone.

"Something _is_ on your mind, isn't it?" Suyin says, her eyes on her monitor and her fingers dancing over her keyboard. "You can spend the whole day beside me, darling, and it'll make me very happy. And you don't need to say anything. But you can always talk to me, Opal."

Opal sighs, shifting to face her mother and resting her chin on the arm of the couch. "I'm...maybe regretting something I did today..."

Suyin hums thoughtfully, and though she doesn't seem to pull her attention away from her monitor, Opal knows that her mother is listening intently. Opal might have the confidence -- or recklessness -- to kiss a superhero with glowing eyes, but talking to her mother about what's bothering her has always been hard. So Suyin keeps her focus on her computer and gives Opal the space she needs.

At length, Opal groans. "I did something that seemed...smart. But it wasn't...sensible. And someone I care about...some people, I guess...could get in trouble."

Suyin's fingers still for a second. "Legal trouble?"

"Maybe. Maybe worse than that...or maybe nothing bad will happen at all, but..."

It all seemed so clear, in the moment she slipped the phone into the Blue Spirit's pocket. This would help Asami track down the mysterious hero. This would help the hero gain a needed ally in the battle against the Red Lotus, something she seemed reluctant to do. And, okay, sure, maybe it would mean Opal would get a chance to see the Blue Spirit again without someone trying to kidnap her, but mostly she planted the phone to help Asami and the hero!

So why has she been regretting it ever since the kiss ended?

Maybe it's because Asami will follow her phone to the Blue Spirit, and maybe into danger. And the Blue Spirit will not be pleased at Opal's trick. And Opal _owes_ her. She owes Asami more, of course, but...if there was a way to be a worthy friend to Asami for once in her life, Opal's beginning to wonder if this was it.

What if it doesn't work? Asami just...loses her phone. And what if it does work? Asami tracks down a woman with incredible powers who would clearly prefer to remain hidden. Opal couldn't live with herself if anything happened to Asami because of her.

It could hurt the Blue Spirit, too. Opal trusts Asami's judgement, but...she knows that Asami is going to chase this story no matter what. Does the Blue Spirit want that level of exposure?

The woman Opal kissed was...real. She smelled of sweat, and cheap shampoo, and, though it was kinda hard to tell, Opal's pretty sure she was blushing. She's just...a person. Who is doing something dangerous to protect others. Opal knows that Asami's intentions are good, but...the Blue Spirit chose anonymity for a reason. 

Does Opal have the right to strip it from her? Even if it's to help Asami?

Opal becomes aware of silence and her mother's gaze. "Um...sorry. Thinking."

Suyin smiles. "No, darling. I know that look. You were deciding something. If you don't want to tell me what it is...please be safe, Opal. Just...please."

Opal gets up, goes to her mother, and wraps her in a hug. "I need to do...a...thing. But I won't be long. And I won't leave the house. And then I'll be a clingy daughter for the rest of the day, until you get sick of me. Promise."

"Opal." Suyin kisses her cheek. "I won't get sick of you. Promise."

* * *

Asami is busy glaring at the blank page on her monitor when Korra knocks on her open door.

Korra hovers just outside the doorway, smiling sheepishly. She gives a little wave when Asami looks up. "Hey. I'm all done with Tenzin, so...I'm reporting in! Because...we're reporters! Ahh...yeah. Uh, is there anything you need me to do?"

Asami glances at the download progress on her screen as an excuse to avoid Korra's eyes.

Maybe it's her conversation with Mako, maybe it's the morning catching up with her, maybe it's the worry that Korra's going to walk away when she realises how crazy things are on this story, but...Asami needs a second or two before she's ready to face Korra's crooked smile.

Asami types a few random words, saying, "Come in Korra. Shut the door."

Korra enters Asami's office, quietly closing the door behind her. She waits in front of Asami's desk.

Asami looks at her and realises that she's not the only one on edge. Asami sighs. "Korra...sit! Please! You don't need to...wait for permission."

Korra eases herself into a seat, smiling. "Right, I just didn't want to assume..."

Asami glances at her monitor, taps a few keys in a futile bid to write a sentence that she doesn't hate, makes a disgusted sound and leans back in her chair. "I'm having a hard time putting this column together."

"Well, it must have been...traumatic. I'm amazed you came into work," Korra says, softly.

Asami freezes. "Well...ah..."

She looks at Korra, who seems...worried. Asami can understand that. What must it be like to find out that you're working for someone who survives a battle like this morning's and doesn't even consider not showing up for work? 

Asami tries to think of something that will make her sound like a sane person. Nothing comes to mind. She sighs.

"Where would I go? I...need to work the stories. The...story. I can best do that here. So..."

Korra chews her lip. "I...don't know. And I don't mean to suggest that you...what you do is up to you, obviously! But don't you have a...uh, partner? Friends? Or your father, doesn't he live in the city? Won't he be worried, hearing about all this on the news?"

Asami glances at her monitor. The tracking software download is almost done. She frowns, and shakes her head. "Korra...I...guess it's been mostly work with us, huh? We haven't really talked about this sort of thing?"

Korra shifts awkwardly in her seat, her expression guilty. "I didn't mean to pry. Sorry. If I'm out of line-"

"You're not," Asami says quickly. She hesitates, weighing things, then simply decides to let go. She thumbs off the monitor. "I'm...out of practise, I suppose. With...new people. But if we're working the Red Lotus together, those are fair questions. So let's see..."

Asami rests her chin in the cradle of her palms and focuses fully on Korra. She's wearing a navy blue sweater over a plain white shirt and black slacks. Her clothes are a little rumpled, but she wears them well. She's still a little uncomfortable, but from the way she leans forward, tucking a length of brown hair behind her ear, it's clear she's interested, too. And there's no judgement in her eyes. Just curiosity and warmth.

In her large, deep blue, very lovely eyes.

Under Korra's gaze, Asami finds parts of herself relaxing and other parts tensing up and she's finding it harder to refuse to acknowledge that she understands exactly why this happens around Korra.

Asami bites her lip. She's suddenly, painfully aware of how much of a mess she must look. She didn't stop to change after the morning's events and she wishes that she didn't regret that decision.

Asami forces herself to say, "I don't have a...partner. I had a...bad experience a little while ago. I think I'm still getting over that."

"Oh..." Korra looks pensive. Maybe guilty.

Asami quickly says, "But I've been giving serious thought to getting a cat!" 

Korra chuckles. "Oh, yeah? You should! I have a dog, back home. Naga. She's big as a bear, but gentle as anything. I miss her."

"I'm sure. So...you're not from Republic City?"

"Nah. I moved here for...work. I'm from a tiny town in Alaska."

Asami raises her eyebrows. "That's quite the move! How're you adjusting?"

Korra chuckles nervously. "Oh, it's been a...challenge." She glances over at one of the empty chairs. "There've been a _lot_ of challenges..."

"Do you have much family?"

Korra stirs, meeting Asami's eyes again. "Just mom and dad and me. And Naga. I miss them, sometimes, but...well, anyway! What about...you?"

Asami shrugs. "Just father and me. Not even a Naga."

"But maybe a cat someday?" Korra smiles.

"Someday..." Asami shakes her head. "Honestly, Korra, time's the biggest thing. This job demands a lot of me. It would take a very understanding person -- or cat -- to make anything work." 

Asami quickly smiles, wanting to keep Korra at her ease. "And as to my father...well, he'll be concerned. But we started drifting after I dropped engineering to pursue journalism, and these days, our relationship is best maintained over email. I already sent him one. He'll get back to me after work."

"I'm sorry," Korra says, her expression troubled.

Asami hunches her shoulders in a shrug. "It's okay. None of it's your fault. And none of it is why I came to work, either. The Red Lotus came after Opal twice. I don't want there to be a third time. I'm going to work this story, Korra. I'm going to find them. I'm going to stop them."

"I believe you," Korra says simply. "How can I help you?"

Asami smiles again, more broadly. "You already are. But! I did think of something while I was trying to write an opening paragraph. About eleven times. Tailors."

Korra blinks. "Uh...is this about the dress for tonight? Are we...do you still want to...?"

"Of course!" Asami blurts. And now she's blushing, so she lowers her hands to the surface of her desk and studies her long, slim fingers. "That is...if you still want to go. The Red Lotus are no joke, Korra. Anything could happen tonight."

Korra chuckles. "Yeah...but with all the security there, the biggest danger is probably me tripping over! I, uh, don't wear skirts or heels very often. Bring ice packs."

Asami laughs, shaking her head. "I'm sure you'll be fine!" Asami risks looking up. "And...thanks."

Korra leans forward, locking eyes with Asami. "I said I was in, Asami. You don't need to keep thanking me. Especially when you're doing so much for me. And I...I don't just mean the dress or taking me with you to the auction...I'm about as junior as it gets at the paper. I'm just an assistant, and-"

"No," Asami says firmly. "You've faced down Lin Beifong's scowl, you were a pro handling Mako back there, and you're doing way more than...look, you're right. We're past the point of worrying about job titles. This is a big story. We're working it together. So...partners?"

Asami stands, extending her hand. Korra gets up, too, quickly reaching out. They shake.

"Partners," Korra agrees. "I mean, you're still the most experienced, so I'm happy to follow your lead, but, uh...for now, you're _not_ the boss! I guess. Haha!"

Asami stops breathing for a second as her conscious mind catches up with the implications of what her subconscious has manoeuvered her into.

"E-exactly! We're...colleagues, now. That...is how we should think of each other. Isn't it? Um." Asami she realises that she's still holding Korra's hand. She quickly lets go. "Okay. Good. That's...uh, good!" 

Asami sits down, pulls open a drawer, grabs a pad and pen, and starts hastily writing out a list.

She keeps her head down the entire time.

Korra shuffles her feet. "So...um...tailors?"

"Right. Tailors." Asami finishes writing, tears the top page off of the pad and passes it to Korra. She makes sure that her face is entirely composed when she looks up again. "This is a list of tailors in Republic City. It's not all of them, but it's a start. I want you to hit as many as you can this afternoon."

"Okay, but what am I..." Korra glances down the list, confused, but before Asami can say anything, Korra's face brightens as the realisation hits. "P'li!"

Asami grins when Korra meets her eyes. "Exactly! She's tall, muscular, oddly proportioned...and she was wearing a suit. Nothing off the rack would fit her, and that suit fit her, so..."

"Tailors!" Korra laughs. "I would never have thought of that!"

Asami sighs, grin fading. "Korra...don't get too excited. Investigative work usually involves a lot of walking around, talking to people who don't know anything relevant until something useful emerges. Sometimes it never does. Be ready to find nothing. P'li might not have visited any tailor in the city."

Korra nods, face determined. "But it's a possible lead. So it has to be checked out. Right?"

"Right. It isn't glamorous, but it's the job."

Korra chuckles. "Well, you make it look pretty glamorous!"

Asami stares at her, startled. "Uh...well, I..."

Korra flushes. "I mean! I...you're always so...uh...fancy. I mean! You must put a lot of effort into...and it always pays off and...uh, not that it's my...it's a good thing! I mean, look at this crummy sweater? Right? Whereas you, with the hair, and the...clothes! And so I just meant that...I'm going to stop talking?"

Asami clears her throat and pushes her hair behind her ears. "Um. Well! Thank you. I think?" Asami chuckles, hoping to ease some of the tension out of the air. "But don't put down your sweaters. I like your sweaters! Now! Uh, we both should probably-"

Korra nods quickly. "Right! Right! So much to do! Both of us! Very separately! I should go! Right now! To the tailors! So you can...do stuff, too."

"Oh! Right!" Asami shakes herself. She faced down P'li and her goons, she can talk like a professional to her...partner. "I need to put this column together. Then go over the guest list for the auction, see if I can spot anyone we might want to talk to later. And I should hit up Opal, see if she's found out about tonight's mystery lot. And...I will need to actually get ready for tonight. And get a new phone. And if there's time, look up this...Raava. I may be off the Blue Spirit, but the name meant something to P'li. It must be relevant somehow." Asami pauses for breath and chuckles. "I think that's all, though..."

She expects Korra to smile, but Korra doesn't. Instead, her eyes narrow and she thrusts out her jaw. Quietly, firmly, in a voice that maybe trembles just slightly, she says, "That's not all. And none of that is first."

Asami stares at her, taken aback. "Excuse me?"

"You haven't eaten, except for some grapefruit this morning. Right? Maybe one reason you're struggling is you need to fuel up."

Asami opens her mouth, but Korra cuts her off, saying, "You're not going to order something, have it delivered, and forget to eat it while it sits on your desk."

Which is actually something Asami has done. More than once. This week.

Korra continues, "You are going to get up, right now, and come outside with me. I'll work this list, you'll get a real meal inside you. _Then_ you can go back to the other stuff." Some uncertainty enters Korra's stance. "If, uh, that makes sense...partner..."

"Well..." 

Asami thinks about the tracking software, her deadline with the column, the dozen other things she's probably forgotten about that need to be done and...looks at Korra, who waits, stubborn, nervous, and worried. More worried about Asami's health than Asami's anger, but clearly worried about that, too.

Asami sighs. How exactly is she supposed to be angry at Korra here?

She says, "Well, how can I say no to that? You make good points...partner."

Korra grins, relaxing, as Asami grabs her coat and bag. Asami hesitates. "Tenzin said-"

"He'll understand. He...kinda told me to look out for you. When it comes to stuff like this. I know you're...well, you're Asami Sato! You don't need _me_ looking out for you." She pauses, that stubborn jut of her jaw making another appearance. "But I'm going to. If you keep forgetting little things like, y'know, eating?"

Asami's stomach twists with...hunger. Definitely just hunger. "Consider me chastised! And...appreciative. And ready. Grab that box and let's go!"

Korra grabs the box with her new dress in it and they head out. Korra detours to collect her bag from her cubicle, and then they ride the elevator to the ground floor together in a silence that borders on something both comfortable and...tense.

An idea hits Asami, and she latches onto it, rooting through her bag as an excuse to avoid looking at Korra, at least until they get to the lobby.

"So, Korra...did you bring your bike in today?"

Asami finally looks around and finds Korra watching her, nervous again for some reason.

"I...did. Yeah," Korra rubs the back of her neck, trying to hide a wince as they pass through security and out of the lobby, into the late fall sunshine.

Asami says, "You fell, didn't you? Off your bike this morning? You've been...um...wincing a lot."

Korra groans. "That obvious? I had a...bit of a collision on my way into work. With a...van."

Asami's eyes widen. "Korra! Are you okay? Have you been to the hospital?"

Korra laughs, holding up her free hand. "Whoah, whoah! I'm a bit bruised and stiff, but I wasn't exactly fighting gangsters all morning! I'm fine."

And Asami can hardly protest further, given how much of a hypocrite that would make her, so she drops it. "Well, the reason I asked was, if you're going to visit all those stores..." Asami proffers the keys she took from her bag. "Take my car."

Korra's jaw drops. She makes no move to take the keys. "Uh...you drive an FI Model S-9."

"Perks of being Hiroshi Sato's daughter. It's just a car, Korra. And you need transport, so..."

Asami shakes the keys. Korra baulks.

"Asami! I have my license, but I haven't really had to drive since I moved here, and..." Korra bites her lip, and looks away. "That car's...worth more than my apartment. Which I'm only renting. I can't..."

Asami tosses the keys at her. Korra starts, but her hand snaps out, plucking the keys effortlessly from the air.

"Good reflexes! Which are important when you're driving." Asami laughs at Korra's expression. "A car's just a thing. And, besides! I trust you. Bring it back to the office at end of hours and I'll give you a ride home so you can get changed. And then I'll know where to pick you up tonight, too!"

Korra nods dazedly. "O-okay...uh...thanks."

Asami tilts her head, narrowing her eyes. "Hey. I thought we weren't doing thanks anymore, partner?"

Korra laughs, bobbing her head in agreement. "Okay, you got me there! See you later...partner!"

Asami resists the temptation to watch her go. She decides to fuel up as quickly as possible over some ramen. And maybe review her notes while she's at it. And maybe try to figure out how to stay professional around Korra when she's being so...Korra all the time.

* * *

Korra unlocks Asami's car without setting off any alarms or being arrested in spite of the fact the she clearly does not belong behind the wheel of a vehicle like this.

She puts the dress and her bag in the back seat and climbs into the driver's seat. She sits for a second, clutching the wheel and trying to figure out what all the buttons and controls do.

"So..." Kyoshi is sitting in the passenger seat. "Your wooing skills are worse than your bending. You should train more. And stoke the flames that smoulder in your passionate heart and-"

Korra grits her teeth. "I really need to focus on driving, Kyoshi, and-"

"This is not a long life, Korra. Why hesitate? Asami is-"

Korra snaps. "I'm _lying_ to her! All the time! And that's not much of a foundation for a relationship! Assuming...she would even want...she's...Asami Sato, Kyoshi! Why would she...? I'm...just..."

"Korra. No just. You are _Korra_." Kyoshi frowns. "I do not understand this...doubt. Nor why you hide the truth from Asami, if it makes you uncomfortable."

Korra sputters, "H-hey! I...it's not that simple! I...if I tell her...I can't ask her to not do her job. Because it would be like asking her to...change who she is. She'd want to write the story, if nothing else. And given that the Red Lotus already know about Raava! How, by the way? _I_ don't know about Raava! Not really!"

Kyoshi snorts. "You know enough. And the Red Lotus are...new to me, as a name. But Raava is very old. And she has many enemies with long memories. It is only a pity that you come to this understanding so late in your life. But it does not matter."

"Doesn't _matter_? It's my life! It's too much! There's too much going on, Kyoshi, and I don't understand any of it! I can't...pursue something with Asami. Or anyone! Not...not right now. Not until I know who's after me and why. And how much danger I'd be putting my...partner into. I mean...the Red Lotus know about Raava, but not me. If they did, they'd come after me directly, right? They haven't been shy about going after Opal!"

Kyoshi frowns. "So?"

Korra stares at her. "So...? So if I tell Asami who I am, and she starts writing about me...you think they won't make the connection? After this morning, too? They'd go after Asami! And then they'd come for me! No more Blue Spirit! No more Korra! I...have to take care of the Red Lotus before I could even _think_ about...wooing...anyone."

Kyoshi shakes her head. "This is not something you _do_ , Korra. This is something you _are_. There will always be danger. There will be consequences to every action you take. You cannot let this knowledge stop you from pursuing your life. There is only one way to walk Raava's path, but is is not the only path you-"

"Shh!" Korra tilts her head as a strange noise suddenly registers.

Kyoshi's frown becomes a scowl. "Kyoshi cannot be shushed! Hear me, Korra-"

"Please, Kyoshi! I'm hearing something else! Something weird!"

Kyoshi blinks. "Hmph. Very well. But we are _not_ finished."

"Fine! But just..." Korra frowns, then suddenly reaches into the back seat and grabs her bag.

It's buzzing and gently vibrating.

Korra's phone is in her pocket. She has another phone, a cheap pre-paid one she bought a while back in case she needed one for her...other life. That one is in her bag with her Blue Spirit disguise. But no one has that number.

Korra yanks the bag open and fumbles around until she finds the source of the noise. It is a cell phone, an expensive one, in the pocket of her hoodie.

Most definitely not hers.

Korra flips it over and gasps when she reads the screen. She stares at Kyoshi. "Call from Opal... _Beifong_?"

Kyoshi glares at her. "Do you expect me to take your calls? Or shield you from her advances? She at least knows how to ask for what she desires!"

Korra groans. "Don't remind me!"

She accepts the call, and lifts the phone to her ear, not saying anything.

Opal Beifong says, "Blue Spirit! Don't hang up! This is Opal? From earlier? You know, the kiss? Oh, and, uh, the whole attempted kidnapping thing, I guess! I...look, I maybe sort of stashed this phone on you? And I needed to warn you, because...Asami knows. And she has tracking software installed on it. And knowing her, if she hasn't already started looking for you, it's only a matter of time! So. Uh..."

Korra exchanges a horrified look with Kyoshi's irritated one. 

Opal says, "Um...so, if that isn't the Blue Spirit, I'd like to go on record as saying that I did not kiss the Blue Spirit this morning and it wasn't kinda dreamy. That was a joke, haha! Um. If this _is_ the Spirit... _so dreamy_. Um. Say something? Please?"

Korra covers the mouthpiece. "Kyoshi! How do I...I need the voice! Raava...?"

Raava stirs, sending a soothing ripple through Korra. A faint nimbus of light surrounds Korra's hands.

" _Thanks, Raava!_ " Korra uncovers the mouthpiece. She says, " _Opal. This is...the Blue Spirit. I guess we need to talk..._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter this time, because I'm sure you need a breather after the last couple.
> 
> Please do share your thoughts, critical, speculative or otherwise! I love your feedback! :)
> 
> And, as always, thanks for reading, and stay tuned! More coming your way next week!


	6. Bids Pt. 2

Opal paces her bedroom, knuckles white on her phone, her stomach in knots as the silence stretches out.

And then _that_ voice says, " _Opal. This is...the Blue Spirit. I guess we need to talk..._ "

"Ooooh, good! It would be so embarrassing if a random stranger found out I'd kissed...a random, glowing stranger..."

Opal winces, covering her phone. "Why am I nervous _now_? Come on, Opal!"

The Blue Spirit says, " _You...tricked me. But why? And why the change of heart?_ "

Opal groans. "I tricked you because I think you need help, and I didn't think you were actually going to reach out to Asami. Not without some...persuasion. And I changed my mind because...it should be your choice. And I tried to take that from you. And I'm...sorry. "

Opal isn't sure how many times her heart thumps painfully in the next silence. Maybe a million or so.

The Blue Spirit says, " _Okay...I need to go. But...thanks, for the warning, Opal._ "

Opal finds some measure of relief. She's delivered her warning. She's done what she can. She's done enough. She can hang up and go back to being Opal Beifong, dazzling socialite.

So even Opal is shocked when she instead blurts, "Let me help you!"

" _Opal...I don't think you should-_ "

"No! Look, I know I...came on...to you. A lot. And that's...awkward. Obviously. But forget all that. I'm serious. You can't do this alone."

" _I know you can handle yourself, Opal, and you're not scared, but-_ "

"No, I'm _terrified_!"

Opal isn't sure which of them is more shocked by that confession. Before the Blue Spirit can say anything, before Opal can do anything stupid, like think, she lets the truth she's been avoiding pour out of her.

"I am...I'm scared. Okay? I'm scared and I _hate_ it. I hate that these people can just...come after me. Twice! And I'm supposed to sit around and wait for it to happen again? Auntie Lin is looking out for me. And I know she'll do everything she can to protect me. But I don't want to be protected. I don't feel _safe_ being protected! I want to fight back. I _need to_. And there's only so much I can do to help Asami. But maybe for you...I can do more. Please. Give me a chance."

" _I'll..._ " There's another agonising pause. " _I'm going to give this phone back to Asami._ "

Opal flops on her bed, defeated. "Right...of course. Makes sense..."

" _I'll text you from a new phone later. I...think you should pick up a cheap phone, too._ "

Opal sits bolt upright, grinning. "Seriously? We're going to be burner buddies?"

" _Well, uh, I could use your eyes at the auction tonight. And I'm not promising that anything will come up, but if I can think of something else-_ "

Opal hops to her feet, grinning wider. "You can use me for anything! Anything at all, any time at all..." Opal's hand flies to her mouth. "Oh, no! That sounds like I'm still trying to...sex you..."

To her surprise, the Blue Spirit laughs. " _Opal...I got what you meant. It's okay._ "

Opal sighs. "Okay. Good. Right! That was embarrassing! I...just...I'm keen to be used...uh, I mean! I want to be useful!" Opal pauses, considering. "To be clear, sex is...still totally an option, though. I have this list and Bolin approved it and you're on it...juuust fyi."

The Blue Spirit makes a strange choking sound. " _Um...Opal, look..._ "

Opal sighs. "Oh. Sex is not an option, huh?"

" _It...was a nice kiss, but..._ "

Opal laughs softly, feeling weirdly...relieved. "Yeah. It was. And I...understand. Really. So, listen...if you're planning on coming to the auction, you should know. Auntie Lin is going to put armed officers on the roof of the gallery. If you were thinking of coming in that way...be careful!"

" _I had other plans, but that's good to know. Thanks!_ "

"Well, let me know how else I can help. For real."

" _I will. Blue Spirit out!_ "

There's a moment's silence.

" _That...sounded better in my head..._ "

Opal laughs. "Okay, but did it sound _good_ , even in your head? Because...wow! I mean, look, if you want to get walkie talkies, and have late night walkie talkie...talkies...I'm up for that! You can be Blue Spirit, I could be...hmm...what about Jade Shade? Because I have green eyes? I could wear a green hoodie! Though, frankly, I think you need to upgrade your costume. To...an actual costume. We could brainstorm some ideas, if you want!"

" _Right, yeah, good, you work on that while I...hang up now..._ "

"Right! I, uh, get carried away sometimes! Could you tell?" Opal laughs. "Okay. Bye, Blue Spirit."

" _Hey. Uh...thank you, Opal. Seriously. I'll be in touch._ "

She hangs up.

Opal gasps. "Did I just become an actual superhero's actual...sidekick?" She bounces up and down and punches the air. "Yes! My biography is going to be _amazing_!"

* * *

Asami is tucked into a corner booth in Uncle Deng's Ramen Paradise, hunched over a bowl of noodles while she scribbles notes about this morning in her pad.

"Something she said...where did the Red Lotus get all this muscle? Why do they need that many people for art theft and kidnapping one socialite? Some of them _must_ be local...maybe I should follow that up with Mako? See how much cooperation we can expect from the RCPD..."

It's reaching the end of the lunch rush, but it's still pretty busy. Asami doesn't think anything of it when someone who clearly isn't staff walks up to the booth. She doesn't look up from her pad, assuming it's someone looking for a seat, she simply makes her monologue internal again.

But then the stranger says, " _Hey, so...I think you lost this?_ "

Asami gasps, jerking upright and dropping her pen in her half-empty noodle bowl.

The Blue Spirit is standing in front of her, in all her tattered glory, hood up, chin tucked into her scarf. Her eyes are the only thing glowing, but in the busy diner, with her head down, she can just about pass as a shy hipster who has taken the distressing of her clothes a bit too far.

She's holding Asami's phone out.

Asami hisses, "Sit down! Quickly!"

The Blue Spirit sits, placing Asami's phone beside her pad. " _Sorry about your pen._ "

"Okay. You're...here." Asami sucks in a breath and blows it out in a sigh as her shoulders relax. She fishes another pen out of her bag and turns to a fresh page in her pad. "Why are you here? How did you find me? Who _are_ you?"

The Blue Spirit picks up a napkin and carefully plucks Asami's pen from the ramen bowl and begins to clean it. She isn't wearing gloves. She has smooth brown skin. Judging from her hands, she's young, probably in her twenties.

She says, " _I wanted to give you your phone back. And to talk to you. As to how I found you...it's lunch time. You work one street over. And this is, uh, the fifth place I tried._ "

"Oh." Asami makes notes without taking her eyes from the other woman. "That's...logical. Not efficient, but..."

The Blue Spirit says, " _I don't have...tracking...powers. Or whatever._ "

Asami sighs. "Pity. If you could track P'li down...uh, that's the woman from this morning who got away. Speaking of...there's a question you're not answering."

She lowers her head, her face invisible under the hood. " _Does it matter who I am?_ "

Asami doesn't hesitate. "Yes. It matters. _You_ matter. I want to know your story. To help you. But...you're also mixed up in some bad business and...look, there has to be...a basis of trust. I need-"

The Spirit shakes her head. " _And if I tell you who I am, right now? What would you do with that information?_ "

Asami blinks. "I...well, I wouldn't print anything without your permission. You'd be a source. I'd protect you."

" _I'm a vigilante. Wanted by the police. And you know I'm going to commit more...superhero...crimes. Would your paper be comfortable with protecting a source like that?_ "

"I...would figure something out with my editor, Tenzin. Before we print. And I wouldn't tell anyone who you are! We could-"

" _And if the Red Lotus ask you? Rather than the police?_ "

Asami narrows her eyes. "They already seem to know who you are."

But the Blue Spirit shakes her head. " _No. They don't. I told you, I'm not..._ " She lowers her voice, becoming barely audible. " _Raava. No one knows who I am._ "

Which...doesn't add up. Asami leans forward. "You mean no one other than this...Raava? They know you, right? Who is Raava, exactly? What do they have to do with all of this? Are you part of a larger group? Are there..." Asami takes a deep breath. "Are there other people like you out there?"

The Blue Spirit leans forward, too. " _So, I should tell you all about my biggest secrets? With no guarantees? Because even though you're mixed up in some bad business with these Red Lotus guys, I should just...trust you! Right?_ "

Asami opens her mouth. She closes it again. She closes her pad, nudges her bowl of noodles aside and plants her elbows on the table. Then she buries her face in her hands and groans.

To her surprise, the Blue Spirit chuckles. " _It's okay. You've had a rough morning. And this is difficult. I don't...know what I'm doing. I wanted to talk to you, but not...uh, for an interview. I'm definitely not ready for the front page..._ "

"Korra was right. I need a break." Asami shakes her head. She lowers her hands, smiling ruefully at the other woman. "Okay. How about this? Something simpler...are you a superhero?"

" _Uh...I don't...not really?_ "

Asami gently says, "It was your word."

The Blue Spirit slumps. " _Oh. Right. Using my own words against me, huh? I guess I asked for that._ "

Asami spreads her hands. "Paying attention is a lot of what I do."

" _I'm not...no. I'm not a superhero. I'm...not sure what I am._ "

Asami picks up her pen and toys with it, pretending to consider her next question. "Well, then let me ask you this: why...do what you do?"

The Blue Spirit sighs. " _Is that supposed to be an easy question? I have these...abilities. I can't...I can't pretend I don't. I can't...not use them. So..._ " She breaks off, frustrated. " _I didn't plan any of this. But this is my life, now. I'm just trying to deal with it. I'm not a hero, Asa...ah...Ms Sato. I'm just...me._ "

"Asami's fine." Asami purses her lips. She casually nudges her pad in front of her with her elbow while she gestures with her pen in the other woman's eyeline. "Okay, but...have you always made a habit of throwing yourself in front of guns? Like the other night with Opal?" Asami flips her pad open without pausing in her questions. "And on Cabbage Street? And this morning?"

" _Not even slightly! I'm...I was...I _am_ pretty ordinary. No one special._ "

Asami keeps her face composed, but she makes a quick note to change the label on her Blue Spirit map confirming the Cabbage St incident as one of hers. "Well...you helped Bolin the other night. He had a head injury. You...treated him. That sounds _very_ special. That could maybe help people in ways that involve less...gun fights?"

" _I only...figured out how to do that that night. And I don't know how much I can do, but I'm thinking it's less than an actual hospital. I'm not some miracle healer. I'm not the cure for cancer. But I can stop bleeding. Heal minor injuries...I'm still trai...uh, learning._ "

Asami makes another note. "That's truly remarkable. You even treated the Red Lotus gunman this morning...why?"

The Blue Spirit's face is mostly hidden. Her eyes are inhuman lights. But Asami thinks she's starting to get a feel for her nonetheless. She seems astonished by the question.

She says, " _I...he was shot! I just...stopped the bleeding until an ambulance could get there. He may be a bad guy, but...I couldn't let him die! I just wish I'd had time to help that cop._ "

Asami makes another note. "You didn't mean to hurt her, right?"

" _I was pushing her out of the line of fire. I was trying to do three things at once and...I messed up._ "

Asami says, very carefully, "Well, you did say you were still in training. And you saved lives today. I believe that. Mine was one of them. I'm grateful. But...maybe it would be wiser to wait until you've had more training before taking on gunmen? You could be one of the casualties next time."

" _Yeah, well tell that to the Red Lotus and the other gangs. If it's not one, it's the other. I've lost count of holdups and muggings and turf wars I've had to deal with lately. It's like they're all riled up for some reason. Maybe they're just doing overtime to make sure I don't get a good night's sleep._ "

"Or..." Asami frowns, leafing through her notes. "Or they're desperate. Because someone is squeezing them..."

The Blue Spirit straightens in her seat. " _The Red Lotus!_ "

Asami nods. "You said it yourself, they have a lot of muscle for supposed art thieves. Maybe they've been recruiting people from other gangs? Maybe their ambitions for Republic City are bigger than we thought."

" _That...that's something I can look into! I've tangled with the Triple Threats a few times, and I know where their leader hides out. I...wow, I wish I could borrow your brain!_ "

Asami bites back a smirk and coolly raises an eyebrow. "Can't you? For all I know, that could be one of your powers, too."

" _What? No! Oh..._ " The Blue Spirit groans. " _You're teasing me. Sorry. I just meant...that came out weird. My life is...weird._ " She starts, realising that she's still holding Asami's pen. She finishes cleaning it, grabs a fresh napkin, scribbles something on it and makes a satisfied noise. " _There! Good as new! Better, even, because now it smells like ramen!_ "

She places the pen on the napkin and pushes it over to Asami's side of the table.

This time Asami can't help it. She bursts out laughing. "I'm not sure that counts as a plus for most people!"

The Blue Spirit slumps in her seat. " _Right. Yeah. I just remembered I haven't eaten today is all._ "

Asami blinks. "What? Well, let me order you something!"

The Blue Spirit quickly shakes her head. " _Oh, uh, no...I just haven't had time yet!_ " Her voice becomes distant as she looks at something under the table, presumably her phone. " _And I sort of have this craving for cream cheese...and it's getting late and I really need to go!_ "

She slides out of the booth, getting smoothly to her feet. As she does, something inside her seems to...open up. Even in her baggy, scruffy clothes, she suddenly radiates power and purpose.

Asami quickly swallows. "Wait! I, uh...there's so much we need to talk about. We can go somewhere else. Eat whatever you like and just...talk. Off the record! Please?"

" _I'd like to...but I have things to do. Leads to run down..._ "

Asami weighs the situation and decides to take a shot. "And more training with Raava?"

" _Nah, that isn't really how it..._ " The Blue Spirit abruptly freezes. " _Oh, crap! You...reportered me! That was an interview! And I just...let my guard down completely!_ "

Asami's heart sinks. She's pushed too hard. She tries a smile. "None of this will see print. Not without your okay. And you wanted to borrow my brain, right? Work with me, and we both benefit. We both want the Red Lotus taken down. And maybe Raava and I could-"

" _No, look...I mean...we'll talk later...uh, over the phone! Okay? But I need to..._ " She groans. " _Ms...Asami. I...bye!_ "

She rushes out, head down and body tense. Asami feels a twinge of remorse. The Blue Spirit is either an incredible actress or...she's a decent person in an extraordinary situation trying to work out what the right thing to do is.

Asami looks at her notes but all at once she can't bear it. She closes her pad and buries her face in her hands again. "Stupid! She saves Opal and you scare her off."

Asami sighs and starts to gather up her things. It's time to head back to the office and try to write a column. But in spite of all the information she's just learned, and the new avenues she might be able to explore, Asami's mood is worse than it was before she left the office.

That is, until she picks up her faintly ramen scented pen and sees that the Blue Spirit left her phone number on the napkin underneath.

* * *

Korra jogs away from Uncle Deng's, ducks into an alley, grabs her bag from where she stashed it and quickly changes behind a dumpster. She exits the other side of the alley walking briskly, crosses the street, and makes her way to where she left Asami's fancy car.

Korra gets in, starts the engine, buckles up and screams when she finds Aang sitting cross-legged on the hood.

"AAAaang! Would you _please_ just...sit in the passenger seat!"

Aang smiles, leaning forward and passing his face through the windshield. "Sorry, Korra. But I need to tell you something...important."

Korra puts the car in gear. "Passenger seat, Aang. We're leaving. I don't want to run the risk of Asami spotting us...me. Spotting _me_!"

Aang disappears and reappears in the passenger seat while Korra pulls away and starts heading west, towards the first tailor on Asami's list. Korra only relaxes when they're a couple of blocks away from the _Chronicle_ building and Uncle Deng's.

"So...what's so important that you need to talk about? Is it...uh, is it my conversation with Asami? I know that could have gone better, but-"

Aang chuckles. "She's clever. And you're always a bit...distracted around her at the best of times."

"Not you, too! I'm not having this conversation again!"

Aang shrugs. "It's not what I wanted to talk about, but since you are technically going on a date..."

"Nope, nope, nope! Oh, look! A Stitch In Time! That's on Asami's list! Better go in! Bye, Aang!"

Aang sighs. "Korra...we need to talk. Soon."

Korra waves and hops out of the car. "Okay. Talking to tailors. Easiest thing I've done all day! Let's get this done!"

She does not get it done.

Korra approaches the man behind the desk, gets as far as identifying herself as a reporter with the _Chronicle_ and watches the barely polite smile on his face vanish beyond the recovery of memory. He has nothing to say to a reporter, least of all a junior reporter in a cheap sweater, but even if he did, his establishment does not do business with criminals, so good day, madam, there are actual customers waiting.

Korra leaves defeated, grumbling, "It's a lower end mid-price sweater, not cheap, and that couple were definitely browsing with no intent to buy!"

Aang appears beside her. "Well, Asami likes your sweater, so I'd focus on that. But maybe now we could-"

Korra blinks. "Wait! Asami... _Sato_! I'm Asami Sato's assistant partner! I won't even need to lie...much. You're a genius, Aang!"

She gets back into the car and heads to the next store on the list, barely noticing when Aang narrows his eyes and vanishes.

From that point on, Korra adopts a new strategy. Each time she visits a store, she tells them that she's Asami Sato's assistant, and that Asami is looking to buy a suit, something similar to one that she saw another woman wearing at a function. Korra then describes P'li and her unusual proportions to the suddenly incredibly helpful staff. After three more names are crossed off the list, she still has no relevant leads, but Korra at least feels like she's making progress.

She finds Aang waiting in the back seat of Asami's car. He says, "Korra...there's not much time left before the auction. You need to hear us."

Korra blinks and looks to her right, and there Kyoshi is, scowling back at her. Kyoshi says, "We require your full attention."

Korra groans. "I'm trying to do my job! And my...this. Blue Spirit...thing. Which...what's not a job, but not a hobby, but sort of both?"

"A vocation," Aang says, softly.

Kyoshi snorts. "Life."

Korra rolls her eyes. She starts the engine and pulls out into the late afternoon traffic.

"So, look, what's so important that you're both bugging me now?"

Aang says, "Maybe you should pull over? You know that we can...stretch your perception of time when we speak. This conversation won't take too long, but it might be better if we-"

Kyoshi says, "Aang believes that the Red Lotus are the people who killed him."

Korra jumps, twists round to gape at Aang, remembers that she's driving and quickly turns back, righting the wheel and narrowly avoiding an oncoming bus as she swerves violently back and forth.

"Oh, crap! Crap, crap, crap!" 

Serenaded by horns and the yells of angry drivers, Korra turns sharply and brings Asami's car to a screeching halt in a quiet side street, almost colliding with another parked car.

After an appropriate moment in which she tries to breathe and calm her racing heart, Korra asks, as reasonably as she can, "WHAT DO YOU _MEAN_ THE RED LOTUS KILLED YOU?! WHY am I only hearing this NOW?"

Aang sighs, running his hand over his bald scalp. "See, this is why I wanted to have this talk while you weren't driving."

Kyoshi sniffs. "She needed to know. And she has a facility for metalbending, she likely would have avoided mortal injury in a crash. Her waterbending is strong, too, though she needs more practice. Everything else is...lacking."

Korra unclenches her jaw with some effort. "Can we get back to the part about the people who are trying to kidnap Opal _killing Aang_?"

"Yes, we should," Kyoshi muses. "How did they kill you? What was your mistake? Korra might be able to avoid it."

Aang sighs. "They lured me out to an abandoned office building. I was trying to locate a kidnapping victim, a young man, and word reached me that the people who took him had a hideout there. They did, but it was abandoned by the time I got there. I was looking for evidence when they used demolition charges to drop the whole structure on top of me. I assume that's what happened, I should say. I was dead for most of it."

Korra turns in her seat and gapes at him. "They...they did... _what_?"

Kyoshi scoffs. "I would have survived such a thing!"

"I had no warning! I didn't know anyone was onto me!" Aang crosses his arms and scowls at her. "And how exactly did _you_ die, Kyoshi?"

It's the first time that Korra's seen Aang even slightly out of sorts. Which is maybe understandable in the circumstances, but it's another scary thing to add to all the other scary things that have happened in the last few minutes. Or days. Or months...

Kyoshi merely smirks at Aang. "No one can prove that I did."

Aang throws up his hands. "The cycle only continues when one of us dies! And you're as much of a memory ghost as I am, Kyoshi! We both exist only through our bond to Raava and our connection to Korra's..." He lowers his arms and offers Korra a sheepish smile. "S-word."

Kyoshi, utterly unfazed, says, "Circumstantial at best, Aang. Now can we return to relevant matters?"

"Right!" Korra closes her eyes. "Like...Red Lotus. Killing Aang. With a _building_."

"An old, weak building," Kyoshi says, dismissively.

Aang rolls his eyes. "That makes it more dangerous, not less, Kyoshi. Korra...I can't be sure, but if the Red Lotus know about Raava...that's not widely known information. And the people who killed me...they knew better than to try to tackle me head on. And some of the things I was investigating before the end...strange kidnappings, with no ransoms sought...I've had my suspicions, Korra, but now I'm almost certain that they're the ones. And whatever they were doing then...might hold the key to what they're doing now."

Korra frowns. "Art thefts. Old paintings and statues. And Opal...you think they want her for more than leverage against Suyin and Lin Beifong?"

Aang inclines his head. "I fear they might. But I'm...not sure what they'd want with her."

Kyoshi says, "It does not matter. They shall not take her."

Korra chews her lip, gripping the wheel until her knuckles whiten.

Aang says, "Korra...it's okay to be afraid. I used to get scared all the time. And these people are a real threat to you. But you have to...use your fear. You can't be used by it. I know it isn't fair, but...you can't hide from this, Korra."

Korra looks at Kyoshi. "I-isn't this the part where you tell me to quit stalling or something?"

Kyoshi slowly shakes her head. "When I...chose to pass into legend..." Aang snorts. Kyoshi shoots him a glare. "My time is over. It is your time, Korra. We may advise. We may instruct. But Korra decides."

Korra swallows. "I can't let them hurt Opal. Or anyone else. It's not really a choice at all, is it?"

Kyoshi vanishes. But before she does, Korra thinks she sees her smile.

Aang says, "What now?"

Before she can answer, her Blue Spirit phone chimes. She pulls it out of her pocket and sees that she has a message from Asami. It reads: Sorry I'm such a nosy reporter. I'm on your side. Promise. Be careful if you do go after the Triple Threats for information. And please EAT SOMETHING!

Korra laughs. "I'm going to run down these tailors. I'm going to go find out what the Triple Threats know about the Red Lotus. And I'm going to get ready for the auction. But first..." Korra senses Raava within her, vast, patient, and gently anticipating. "Bagels."

Aang smiles. "Now that sounds like a plan, Korra."

* * *

In a warehouse on the other side of town, in a room that used to be an office, Zaheer moves his body through the ancient forms, weaving, circling, flowing from stance to stance in endless, flowing grace. Sweat gleams on his scarred, muscled torso in the light of a half dozen candles.

On the table, in the light but out of range of dripping wax, are a series of illustrations assembled from old paintings, pages of books and pieces of manuscript. Zaheer's movements follow the motions depicted in the illustrations.

He finishes the final form and pauses for a moment. Then he twists abruptly, throwing out his hands at the candelabra. The flames do not so much as waver, but Zaheer smiles.

"Tonight," he promises. "It begins tonight. And soon...Raava's time will be over. And our shackles will be broken."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit shorter again, but the auction (and some action) approaches!


	7. Bids Pt. 3

In the basement room of a rundown pawn shop, Zolt, the leader of the Triple Threat gang, sits at his desk, rolling an unlit cigar between his fingers and smiling at the men sitting across from him.

He says, "What's the news, boys? We ready for tonight?"

Victor, a sleepy-eyed man built like a brick factory, says, "I checked the weapons and explosives myself. The rest of the boys are in position. We're ready, boss."

Peng, blade thin, and every bit as quick with a knife as he is slow to think, says, "Boss...the way the Red Lotus have been leaning on us...are you sure we should be trying to takedown a _bank_ right now?"

Zolt exchanges a weary look with the last member of their gathering, Shady Shin.

Shady Shin removes the toothpick from the side of his mouth and says, "Peng. That's exactly _why_ we're hitting the bank. Those Red Lotus mooks have been trynna to squeeze us out of business! But we're the Triple Threats. We ain't taking this lying down. We need a bankroll to fight back, though. So..."

Zolt nods at Peng. "So Republic City's Maritime Investment Bank will be extending us a loan. One with an un _beat_ able repayment plan. And the sweet part of it is, with all the ruckus the Red Lotus have raised, all the cops will be busy protecting the good rich citizens at their fancy auction! It'll be a _cake_ walk, Peng."

While the others chuckle, Peng frowns. Plaintively he asks, "But if they're giving us a loan..."

Zolt rolls his eyes. Peng has earned his spot as a lieutenant in the Triple Threats, but he'll never be a planner. While Shady Shin patiently explains the principle underlying metaphors to Peng, Zolt considers the Red Lotus. 

He doesn't know who they are, or what they want, but half the Triple Threats defected to them over a month ago. If they had wanted to wipe out the Triple Threats, they likely could have done it then. But the Red Lotus haven't tried to claim any Triple Threat territory.

Where the gang has lost ground is mostly the result of not having enough muscle to hold what's theirs against the other gangs anymore. Even though they've all had similar problems with losing members to the Red Lotus. But how do you fight back against something you don't understand? The Red Lotus aren't operating like a gang, they aren't claiming territory, or setting up businesses that the Triple Threats could disrupt...

Shady Shin says, "So, when I say that the Red Lotus are bugs, and we're gonna crush 'em, that's a metaphor. But if I say-"

Peng shifts nervously in his seat. "Are we though? I mean...we don't even know who they are. We don't know where any of their leaders are!"

The other three get quiet. They all look to Zolt.

Zolt sighs. "I don't get these Red Lotus guys. And I don't like them, but fighting them feels like...punching fog. We tire ourselves out chasing them down, and we never seem to do any real damage. Whatever they're planning for this burg...I'm thinking the smart play is to weather the storm. We'll let everyone else fight it out with the Red Lotus while we lay low. Tonight's score is going to let us do that, like..."

Peng says, "Like acorns! For squirrels in winter!"

Shady Shin shoots him a sour look. "Oh, come on! Similes you can handle, but not metaphors? They're the same thing!"

Peng frowns. "But the boss didn't say 'like', earlier...it confused me..."

Zolt rubs his brow wearily. "Boys..."

Victor leans across the desk. He takes a match from the book of them beside the overflowing ashtray, lights it with his thumbnail and offers it to Zolt. "We're ready, boss," he repeats, calm, confident and steady.

Zolt nods. He holds the tip of his cigar to the flame and puffs.

A gust of wind blows the match out.

A gust of wind, in this windowless basement room.

Peng says, "Did someone leave a window open...?"

Zolt is still reaching for the gun taped to the underside of his desk when a soft blue light washes over his face. He looks up, gaping when he sees a dark-clad figure on the ceiling six feet above his head. They're clinging to the light fixture with both hands, and they've hooked their ankle around an old water pipe and they're _glowing_.

Zolt gasps. "What the...it's like some kinda ninja!"

Peng says, "See! Is that supposed to be a simile or a metaphor?"

To Peng, the ninja says, " _It was a comparison. Like saying: you're worse at being a gang than Mayor Raiko is at making policy._ "

Victor springs out of his seat, reaching for his gun, roaring in fury.

The ninja drops, throwing out a kick that slams into Victor's chest, hurling him against the concrete wall, his pistol dropping out of suddenly slack fingers.

Peng might struggle with the conceptual underpinnings of everyday linguistic building blocks, but violence is something he understands. He doesn't worry about how a ninja is there in Zolt's office, or why the ninja is glowing. Peng just springs into motion, whipping a knife out of his belt and lunging at the ninja, while Shady Shin grabs for his shoulder holster.

The ninja throws out an arm at Peng. A gust of wind slams into Peng's chest, flinging him into the opposite wall with stunning force. Even catching the edge of the gust rocks Zolt back in his chair, his scrabbling fingers tearing off a strip of tape but failing to get a grip on his revolver.

Shady Shin levels his pistol at the ninja while Peng is still slumping to the floor. Before he can squeeze the trigger, though, the ninja back tucks and Zolt is suddenly staring down the barrel of Shady Shin's gun.

The ninja lands neatly, moves effortlessly, continuously, snapping out a kick that knocks the gun out of Shady Shin's hand and flowing into an punch that knocks the conscious right out of his face.

Zolt lunges for his gun, but the ninja hops up onto his desk, braces their hands on the far edge and plants one foot on the desk and the other in Zolt's chest. The ninja shoves Zolt and his chair against the wall, compressing his chest enough to make breathing tricky and robbing him of any hope of reaching his weapon.

He grabs the ninja's leg, trying to wrench it away, but he finds muscles like steel cables there that he simply can't budge. As he struggles, Zolt spots Victor groggily reaching for his pistol.

The ninja doesn't seem to have noticed, so Zolt gasps out, "Wha...whaddya...want?"

The glowing ninja says, " _Well, much as I love the whole seedy boy's clubhouse thing you've got going, it's not decorating tips! I'm interested in everything you know about the Red Lotus._ "

Zolt grits his teeth and strains against the crushing force of the ninja's leg. "I...hate those...guys. We...could...partners?"

Victor pushes himself upright, pointing his recovered gun at the side of the ninja's head. "Let him go!"

The ninja glows more intensely for a second.

Victor's squeezes the trigger but his gun doesn't fire.

The ninja says, " _Safety's on._ "

The ninja releases the pressure on Zolt's chest, flips upside down over the desk, plants a hand on the surface of it and spins, kicking Victor in the chest and head simultaneously. Victor collapses, and the ninja, still in motion, pushes off with their hand, drops their legs, and flips off the desk and on top of Zolt. They plant a knee in Zolt's chest this time, bracing their other foot on the floor and grabbing Zolt's wrists and pinning them to the arms of his chair.

All before he can get a full breath in his lungs.

The ninja says, " _I don't need a partner, thanks. So! Red Lotus. And then we'll chat about that bank you're not robbing!_ "

Zolt groans. "Who...who _are_ you?"

" _You can call me...the Blue Spirit!_ "

* * *

Asami is finishing her makeup when her doorbell rings. She frowns, throws a robe on over her underwear, checks the time, winces, and hurries to the door.

When she opens it, a tall, scowling, dark-haired woman in a dark suit pushes past her, eyes tracking left and right as she sweeps Asami's hall. Asami is in the process of figuring out exactly how she's going to encourage this woman to leave when Opal flits in behind her.

"Asami! Hi! Meet my... delightful RCPD bodyguard for the evening. Kuvira, this is Asami Sato. She doesn't keep kidnappers in her apartment. In fact, she hits kidnappers with fire extinguishers when she meets them! She was my bodyguard this morning. You know, the one who helped prevent my kidnapping?"

Opal smiles at Asami, but it's a shy smile, an expression familiar from when they were both kids.

Kuvira, looking entirely unabashed, nods coolly at Asami and says, "Forgive my caution, Asami. But my job is to protect Opal. And that means doing what I can to prevent her from coming to harm in the first place."

Asami raises an eyebrow. "It's Ms Sato, Officer Kuvira. And it's interesting that you think that entering someone's private residence without an invitation or a warrant is...cautious?"

Kuvira's eyes narrow. "Well. It's prudent. Now, if you wouldn't mind showing me round the-"

Opal darts between Asami and Kuvira. "Haha, yes, good idea! You _should_ wait in the hall, Kuvira! That way you can look for bad guys while Asami and I get ready! Go on, shoo! I'll scream in terror if I need you!"

Kuvira inclines her head towards Opal, almost entirely masking the flicker of irritation that crosses her face. "Opal. Ms Sato."

She goes out into the hall and waits, hands clasped behind her back, body rigidly at attention. Opal closes the door on her, and turns to Asami smiling nervously.

"So! Uh...she seems nice?"

Asami raises her eyebrows.

Opal sighs. "Yeah, fair enough. Want to make a break for it down the fire escape?"

" Not when I'd be fleeing my own home, no. And...what are you doing here?"

Opal takes Asami's arm and guides her into the living room. "These are all reasonable questions. Let's see..."

"It was one question, Opal." Asami squeezes her arm before gently removing hers from Opal's grasp. "I'm going to be seeing you in an hour anyway and wouldn't it be-"

Opal snaps, "If you say _safer_ , I'll scream and tell Kuvira you're Red Lotus."

Asami looks more closely at Opal. She looks...incredible, on the surface. She's wearing a figure-hugging green dress, glittery heels, smoky eyeshadow that accentuates her eyes and a silver pendant and matching earrings. She smells like a florist's shop in a romantic movie should.

But she's also tense, and clearly reaching the end of her near infinite good humour.

Asami sighs. "...easier? To go with Suyin?"

Opal shakes her head, closing her eyes. "Sorry, Asami. It's been a long day and...I was doing okay until Kuvira showed up. And mother just _loves_ her, so I've been stuck with her all afternoon. I had to argue with Kuvira to get her to wait outside the bathroom while I was...in the bathroom! Ugh! And Bolin's been stuck in stupid meetings all day and I've been moping about the house and I couldn't take it anymore, so I...sort of ran away for a while? I...could use a lift to the auction? If...that's okay...?"

She trails off, a little uncertain, and that makes Asami very, very angry. Because Opal only gets like this when she's deeply distressed, and Asami hates that the Red Lotus have done this to her friend.

"Of course it's okay, Opal!" Asami gives her a quick hug. "I need to make a stop on the way, though. If you think we can manage that without Officer Kuvira putting me in cuffs?"

Opal chuckles weakly. "Honestly, she's not _that_ bad. I'm not sure what that was about in the hall, but she's been...decent the rest of the time."

Asami shrugs. "Well...okay. Help me finish getting ready?"

Opal nods, following her through to the bedroom. "Sure. So, uh, did anything...um, I mean...how was your afternoon?"

Asami pauses on her way to her vanity. She glances at Opal, who is carefully examining Asami's dress.

Asami purses her lips, considering. She sits down and begins to brush her hair. "Well, I had a meeting with Tenzin and Mako. Who isn't going to be pressing assault charges against you. He thinks you were fighting off the Blue Spirit. Who he's keen to bring to justice."

Asami watches Opal in the mirror. Opal winces at the mention of the Blue Spirit's name, and Asami thinks that maybe she understands the source of some of Opal's tension, and that it isn't the fault of the Red Lotus after all.

Opal says, "So...how was seeing Mako again?"

Asami sighs. "Not bad. I suppose. We...cleared the air. A little bit. He, uh, sort of offered to take me to the auction tonight."

"He did _what_?" Opal whirls round and faces Asami, eyes blazing. "Do you think he's trying to...? After the way he...? That insensitive _jerk_! I'm going to hit him again when I see him!" Opal pauses to take a breath and consider. "Harder, this time," she concludes. 

Asami laughs. "It's okay. I, uh, I told him I had a date, anyway. So, uh, after that I wrote my column and then, uh-"

"Ahem," Opal interrupts, smirking. "About this date you speak of...is this maybe the reason for our stop on the way?"

Asami sighs. "Yes."

"Squee! We're picking up Korra! Oh, Asami, I'm going to make her sit in the back with me and I'll talk you up until you'll be all she can think about! Did I mention squee? Because squee!"

Happy as she is to see Opal giddy again, Asami can't help but groan. She puts down the brush and faces her.

"Opal...it's not a real date. I don't even know...I mean, Korra and I have a professional-"

Opal crosses her arms and scowls. "Asami Sato. Enough. You're both adults. You're not some creep trying to take advantage of an...underling! You're a woman with a crush. Totally natural! And Korra is gorgeous, smart, and really sweet. And she's interested. I can tell."

Asami blinks. "What? Um...I...it's completely irrelevant, but...how can you tell?"

"Yeah, so, as hard a time as you were having keeping your eyes off her the other day, she was working just as hard not to look at you. Which is a complete giveaway. Because everyone looks at you. You know, you're so annoyingly beautiful, I only get annoyed when you're not around to distract me from how annoyed I am with how beautiful you are."

Opal pauses, tilting her head and mouthing that last sentence over again. She shrugs. "What I'm saying is, Korra doesn't look at you because she really, _really_ wants to look at you."

Asami slumps. "Oh. That's...probably not the good thing you think it is. I think she might just be nervous because of the job? But it doesn't matter, because it's-"

"Well, I don't think she was checking out your butt because she was nervous about the job. And she was definitely checking out your butt when you both left auntie Lin's office. Not that I blame her. I check out your butt all the time. You have a great butt."

Asami gasps. " _Opal_!"

" _Asami_! She's into you. Trust me." Opal picks up Asami's dress. "Now, come on! I'll help you into this. We can't keep Korra waiting!"

Asami gets up and allows Opal to assist her into the red silk gown she'll be wearing this evening. It's not the most practical choice if trouble should happen, but if it does, Asami's there to report, not to take part. There'll be plenty of police and security professionals there, if something does go down. And the longer skirt will leave her bruised leg covered, which makes it practical on another level.

Opal helps her arrange her hair and pick out some jewellery and Asami lets Opal fuss over her while she thinks.

"Opal...?"

"Hmm? Oh, where's that jade pendant? It'd go so well with these earrings..."

"Opal...I didn't tell you about the rest of my day. I saw the Blue Spirit again. She...returned my phone."

Opal freezes. "O-oh? Uh, wow! How did that...happen?"

Asami smiles softly. "Yes, I've been wondering that very thing, Opal."

"Ha, well, we might never know? Right? No?" Opal slumps, head drooping under Asami's patient gaze. "Okay, yeah, I called her. I...it's just...she helped save me and it seemed like a good idea to put the phone in her pocket, but then it seemed like a mean trick and it didn't seem fair, even though I know you'd never do anything to hurt her, but it just felt wrong, and so, even though it felt like I was letting you down, and I hate that, I...warned her. And at first I felt great and then I thought about you and I felt terrible. Are...are you mad?"

Opal peers up at Asami with that same timid look she wore the first time they met.

Asami kisses her brow. "Only with the people who tried to hurt you. Opal...you did what you thought was right. I trust you, too! Except, maybe, around the Blue Spirit alone. How much did you flirt with her?"

"I didn't! Um...mostly. I mean, I may have mentioned the list, but...she, uh, wasn't keen and..." Opal snorts, giggles, and presses the heel of her hand to her eyes. "Ooooh, I've been so worried you'd...well, anyway! Um. Was... _she_ mad?"

Asami winces. "Uh. Not with you. I...kinda pushed too hard when we talked, and...but, uh, we're texting now. There's a lot I still don't know, but...I need to build her trust. And I have a chance to do that, because of you. So, thanks, Opal."

Opal sighs. "Okay. Okay, good. I, uh... am glad that's out in the open." She grins, straightening up, eyes brightening. "Okay. Jade pendant. Then we're picking up your date!"

Asami shakes her head. "It's not a date...not to Korra. I don't want to...mislead her."

Opal snorts. "Riiiight, which explains the five hundred dollars worth of lingerie I couldn't help but notice that you're wearing! You're definitely not hoping you'll get the chance to impress anybody whose name rhymes with...uh, whose name doesn't rhyme with anything convenient because her name is Korra?"

Asami can see her reflection in the vanity. Her face is as crimson as her dress. "Yeah, uh, I think that pendant is in my dresser? So..."

Opal laughs as Asami quickly turns away from her. She says, "Tonight is going to be so much fun!"

Asami doesn't dare think about Korra, so she thinks about the Red Lotus, and she wonders how fun the night is really going to be.

* * *

Opal sits in the back of Asami's car on the ride to Korra's, partly because she intends to make good on her threat to talk to Korra on Asami's behalf, and partly because she needs some space.

Kuvira sits up front with Asami, and Opal almost regrets the arrangement. There's a weird, crackling hostility between the two that manifests in a frosty silence. Opal doesn't get it, but since they're ignoring each other, she decides to ignore them, too. She's got other things to think about.

Well, one thing. And two people. She's relieved at how well Asami took the news that Opal warned the Blue Spirit about the phone. But...the other part of the deal, the part where she's got her own private line of communication with Girl Who Glows...that part Opal isn't sure she's going to tell anyone. Not until she's had a chance to help the Blue Spirit for real.

She's become used to telling Asami almost everything that's going on in her life. Keeping her engagement news from Asami for a whole week had been difficult. This...this is going to be hard work. And while it feels terrible, keeping secrets from Asami, it feels...right.

Right or no, Opal's thoughts keep her busy until they reach their destination.

Korra's neighbourhood isn't the nicest that Opal's ever seen. It isn't rundown, exactly, but judging by the trash and the graffiti, it's seen better days. There aren't any good parking spots, so Asami texts Korra and double parks outside her apartment block.

They wait in silence until, after a minute, Kuvira mutters, "We should circle the block. It's safer."

Asami shoots her an irritated look. "We weren't followed here, and this stop isn't part of Opal's schedule so it's not like anyone could be waiting."

Kuvira raises an eyebrow. "You think you can spot a tail?"

Asami snorts. "Probably not as well as you could. But if _you_ had spotted one, you'd have taken charge of things by now. So...I'm guessing we weren't followed."

Kuvira slowly nods. "Hm. Not bad. But your...friend is taking too long. We should-"

"Relax?" Opal suggests. "Asami...Korra's not used to this kind of thing, right? Maybe she needs a hand getting ready?"

Asami blinks. "Oh...I didn't...she told me she doesn't really wear dresses and heels..."

Opal offers Kuvira her sweetest smile. "Um...so...I'm sorry to be a pest, but would it be okay if I had a minute with my friend? You have my word that I'm not planning on making her ditch you here because you seem to hate her!"

Kuvira's stoicism slips for a second as she stares at Opal. "I don't...hate Ms Sato. I..." She frowns and turns to Asami. "I apologise if I've given that impression."

It's not much of an apology, as far as Opal is concerned, but Asami quickly says, "Not at all. I'm grateful you're here to protect Opal."

They stare at each other. Kuvira inclines her head a fraction, and Asami returns the gesture. Apparently it's enough for them both to relax.

Slightly.

Kuvira says, "I'll...check the street." She glares at Opal. "If you try to ditch me, I'll cuff you to me for the rest of the night. Clear?"

Opal grins. "Hmm, sorry, but...my list is full. No can do."

Kuvira glares at her for a second, then abruptly turns and gets out of the car, carefully closing the door behind her.

Asami says, "I really thought she was going to slam it..."

Opal chuckles. "Hey. So. Now we have a minute...have you considered that one reason Korra might be nervous around you is that you're Asami _Sato_ , and that you're the famous, rich, heir to the Future Industries empire? Korra might just maybe find that a _tiny_ bit daunting. And tonight you're taking her into a world you're familiar with, and she isn't. So...maybe bear that in mind?"

Asami registers that and groans, resting her forehead on the steering wheel. "I completely railroaded her into this, Opal! This isn't how she wants to spend her Friday evening! She doesn't want this!"

Opal suppresses a sigh and pats Asami's shoulder. "Stop it! You asked her and she said yes. And she is going to have a good time with you!"

Asami groans again. "I told her it was a pretend date! I told her it was work! And it is! And she's my assistant, so...I can't do this to her. It's completely unfair. I should...cancel."

"Orrr...be honest about your intentions?"

"But...she might not want to work with me anymore! Which...I wish I hadn't said out loud. I need to-"

Opal's eyes widen. "Wait...Asami! This isn't...you _like_ Korra!"

Asami raises her head and twists to face Opal, her expression confused. "Yes...? I thought we'd established that?"

"No, no, no! Don't you _dare_! I thought you were crushing but this is...this is _like_!" Opal jabs an accusing finger at Asami. "You're in like with Korra!"

Asami winces. "...Maybe? A bit? I...no, look-"

Opal tries another shoulder pat. "Tell me."

Asami closes her eyes. "Oh...I didn't even notice, at first, when she was assigned to me. She was late a lot, and she kept...spacing out. I thought she was lazy. But...she always stays late. She always gets anything I ask her to do, done. And then I started to realise that she's...kind, too. And passionate. And do you know, I'm not even sure when it happened but one day, I didn't know what colour her eyes were, and then...I knew. Cerulean. I...didn't even really notice that she was pretty. And now I keep noticing, more and more, how..."

"How ridiculously beautiful she is? You dummy? Because she is. Kiiinda spotted that one straight away."

Asami groans. "I know...it's ridiculous! I'm supposed to be...and this week, when things have been so crazy...ha! You know, she forced me to go to lunch today? She got that look in her eye, like when she was facing off against Lin, and told me: you're dropping everything and taking a break and eating. I know that sounds like...nothing, really, but..."

In the brief pause, Opal breaks the silence by loudly cracking her knuckles.

She says, "If this dress had sleeves, I'd be rolling them up. This is now my _mission_ , Asami. I'm going to save Korra from her dress and bring her to you and you're going to date her socks off. Well, okay, she won't be wearing any if she's wearing heels, and if she is for some reason, poor thing, I'll get her to take them off before she leaves the house. But you get my point!"

Asami shakes her head. "Opal, I know you're trying to help, but, please. Let me figure this out, okay?"

Opal quickly crosses her fingers behind her back. "Okay! I promise! I'd still better go see if she needs a hand, though."

Taking Asami's slight head wobble as permission, Opal hops out of the car and jogs over to Korra's apartment building, punching her flat number into the buzzer.

Kuvira materialises out of a shadow and glares down at her. "What do you think you're doing? You were supposed to stay in the car!"

Opal rolls her eyes. "Best friend duties. And you made sure the street's safe, right? So..." There's a buzz and the door lock disengages. Opal grins. "Be back in a minute, don't fret!"

Opal yanks the door open and darts through before Kuvira can say anything else.

* * *

Korra scrambles over her windowsill, catches her pants leg on the window frame and collapses face first onto the floor. 

She groans, but otherwise doesn't move.

Aang clears his throat. "Korra? You might want to-"

Korra, face still pressed into the carpet, raises one finger.

Aang sighs. "Right. Sure. Take as long as you need... it's just-"

"Tired, Aang. Fighting. Using super powers. Talking to snooty tailors. Learning people want to drop buildings on me. Sitting on Zolt and his crew and a lot of explosives until the police arrived. Running from the police after they arrived. It's been a long day. Just...give me this," Korra mumbles into the carpet, never raising her head.

Aang says, "Oh, I'm just the memory of a dead monk. I can't really give you anything. Except, maybe, a reminder that Asami will be here to pick you up in twenty minutes?"

Korra isn't sure if it's Raava's powers or sheer panic that does it, but the next second, she's on her feet and sprinting through Aang, tossing aside her Blue Spirit clothes and grabbing at fresh underwear and in no way panicking.

"Crap, crap, crap! I need to shower! I need to change! I need to not take time out to teach gangsters grammar! I need to-"

"Calm down?" Aang suggsts cheerfully. "You'll bring Ginger in here again, which won't help with your stress."

" _You_ don't help with my stress," Korra mutters. Quietly.

She takes a moment to close her eyes, and to breathe. Then she quietly opens her bedroom and sneaks into the bathroom.

Korra opens the shower curtain and almost doesn't scream when she finds Kyoshi waiting for her, scowling. "Korra."

Korra dances from foot to foot, hissing, "Ssstop _doing_ that! You know the bathroom is out of bounds!"

Kyoshi snorts. "Kyoshi knows no bounds. It is time for waterbending training."

"What?" Korra shakes her head quickly. "No way! Not when I need to get ready for-"

"KORRA." Kyoshi's voice rocks Korra like a gale. "Your body is covered in bruises. You are weary. This will help you maintain your cover. This will help you restore your strength. This could save your life. This is _serious_ , child!"

And she sounds serious. She sounds earnest, in a way that she did not in front of Aang earlier.

Korra swallows. "You're...worried about the Red Lotus, aren't you?"

Kyoshi pauses. "Well...the cut of your dress will expose you to Asami's scrutiny. She _will_ notice your injuries and would it not be better if she was focused on...other things?"

Korra scowls. "Oh, wow, you turned that around to my fake date quickly!"

Kyoshi smiles. "Well...that too is serious, Korra. So would you prefer dating advice or waterbending technique?"

Korra rolls her eyes. "Okay, fine, show me how to...shower...bend!"

It's tricky, with Kyoshi and Korra separated by a shower curtain on Korra's insistence. But even in the confines of her tiny shower, Korra finds the sinuous movements Kyoshi demonstrates come to her quickly. Almost like she's not learning them, but...remembering them.

That's an uncomfortable thought, but discomfort gives way to wonder when the shower water begins to glow, flowing over her body in spirals, loosening knotted muscles, scrubbing her skin clear not merely of dirt, but of bruises and abrasions, too. Korra is filled with warmth and a sense of peace and she stops following Kyoshi's silhouette and simply follows the water, even as the water responds to her.

There's a moment where she and the water are almost...one thing. There's...something there, on the edge of Korra's understanding, something that, when she tries to grasp the edges of it, flows away like the water, which ceases to glow and sluices off her healed body in accordance with gravity.

Korra blinks, and shuts off the shower, lost in thought.

Quietly, Kyoshi says, "That...was good technique."

She's gone by the time Korra pulls back the curtain, leaving Korra to get dressed in privacy.

At least until Ginger knocks on the door and says, "Korra? Why didn't you tell me you know the Nuktuk guy's girlfriend? I can't believe you'd keep that from me! I thought we were...really close acquaintances!"

Korra, who is in the process of discovering that fancy dresses are much more difficult to put on when snooty shop assistants aren't snootily fastening snooty fasteners for her mutter grumpily under her breath.

She stomps over to the bathroom door and yanks it open. "Ginger! I'm kinda busy and I don't really _know_ Opal Beifong, so..."

Korra trails off when she sees that Ginger, resplendent in sweat pants and an old, faded and very large Metallica t-shirt, is not alone. Standing behind -- and partially obscured by -- her in their living room is Opal Beifong. She, resplendent in couture so hot that the word needs to be spelled funny, grins and waves cheerily at Korra.

"Hey, Korra! Asami's out front, so let's get you..." Opal blinks, eyes travelling down and taking in Korra's bare arms holding her own couture in place. "Uh, out of that...uh, I mean! _into_ that dress and out of here! Because Asami is here! And she's your date!"

Ginger gasps. "Wait...Korra...you're dating Asami _Sato_?"

Korra blinks and suddenly Aang and Kyoshi are there. Korra narrows her eyes, thrusts out her jaw and says, "Look, Asami's who I work...with at the paper. And she invited me to the auction tonight-"

"Because she likes you, Korra," Opal says, grinning, eyes bright with mischief. "That's how dates work!"

Korra isn't sure what to make of that, except that the look in Opal's eye is similar to the one she got right before she kissed Korra this morning and that makes her very nervous.

"Uh, Opal, no, I mean-"

Ginger abruptly wails, "You're going to the Beifong Charity Auction? With Asami Sato and Opal and the Nuktuk guy? Without _me_? Korra! I can't believe I loaned you my shirt this morning and you didn't tell me any of this!"

Korra groans. "Ginger...wait, I leant _you_ my shirt!" Korra considers Ginger's statuesque frame and winces. "Uh...which shirt did you take?"

Ginger snaps, "Who cares whose shirt, scarf, wristband and bracelet it was?! We're talking about you withholding vital gossip from a roommate! That is in breach of a sacred trust, older than-"

Opal is suddenly there, grabbing Korra's arm and hauling her into the bathroom.

Opal says, "So sorry, must finish up! Lovely to meet you!"

Opal kicks the door shut and sighs. "Wow! That...is quite some roomie!"

Korra nods. "Yeah. Uh...Opal?"

"Mmm?"

"Could you...?"

Opal looks down at her hands which are still clutching Korra's upper arm. She quickly lets go and steps back.

"Oh! Sorry! I, uh, yeah! So! Um, turn round and I'll fasten you up and maybe you could tell me something real quick?"

Korra's heart lurches, kicking into high gear as she obediently turns round. She finds Kyoshi and Aang staring at her and winces. "Do...could she suspect? I mean, we were, uh, we did..."

Aang shakes his head. "Try not to kiss her again and you should be fine."

Korra pouts. "I'm not going to kiss her! Jerk!"

Kyoshi nods. "No. Because you are saving the full potency of your lips for Asami."

"Exactly! Uh, no! I mean..." Korra glares at her. "Kyoshi! 

Opal, working steadily on Korra's dress says, "So! Here's the question. Why don't you want to date Asami for real?"

Korra gasps. "Wha...what? Huh? I mean...I..."

Opal says, "All done with the dress! So? What's going on?"

Korra turns to face Opal, if only so she can't see how intensely she's blushing in the bathroom mirror. "O-Opal! I...that's..."

Opal holds up her hands. "Personal. Private. Not my business. It's just...Asami is terrible when it comes to romance. Awful. The worst. She has a very bad track record, and she deserves so, so much better than her previous...relationships."

Korra gapes at her. "Uh...that isn't my business, either, Opal. It's not-"

Opal snorts. "Okay, you're both hopeless. Look, for some reason, Asami's exhibiting shockingly good taste right now. She likes you, Korra."

Korra shakes her head. "But...no, see this is a fake date! For work! I-"

"Well, what if it weren't?"

Korra freezes. Because as hard as she's been fighting Kyoshi and Aang on this, there's a part of her that's always known that it disn't matter, because Asami couldn't posibly be interested in someone like her.

Opal smiles. " _You_ look amazing, Korra. And I know I barely know you, and I'm a horrible person prying into very sensitive matters, but...you're a catch, young lady!"

Opal carefully inspects Korra's dress, nodding thoughtfully.

"Okay. I'll shut up in a minute. Asami is waiting. And you are interested. Aren't you? Don't answer! Just...how about this? Watch her face, when she sees you in this dress. Just do that, before you make up your mind about what tonight may or may not be. Okay?"

Korra hesitates. "I...Opal..." Korra lowers her voice to a whisper. "She's Asami Sato! Why would she...with...me?"

"Asami Sato is just a person, Korra. An amazing person, true, but she's every bit as nervous as you are right now. And we're late. So you should grab whatever you need to grab and we should go!"

Korra sighs. "Right. Okay. Um...thanks? I'll...grab my jacket."

"Do you have to?" Opal asks wistfully, her eyes straying to Korra's arms in a manner that makes Korra very nervous again. Opal blinks, quickly refocusing on Korra's face. "I mean, uh, it might clash with the dress! But you know what, no, you're right you should definitely go do that while I run interference with Ginger!"

In her room, Korra tucks a scarf into her jacket pocket. She loads both of her phones into a clutch she's sure Ginger won't mind her borrowing.

She sucks in a breath, holds it for a few seconds, and blows it out again. "Okay. Time to...date Asami Sato."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> Lemme know what you thought in the comments below!
> 
> And I'll see you next time!


	8. Bids Pt. 4

Zaheer waits by the limousine. He stares out into the night, counting silently in his head. When he hits the right number, he glances at another tuxedoed man standing bored beside him and says, "Mind if I go for a quick smoke, Mr Li?"

Li shrugs. "Sure. But be back in three minutes. Our client will be out in five."

Zaheer smiles. "Thanks!"

He walks away, along the inside of the wrought-iron fence, tugging a fresh packet of cigarettes and a lighter from one pocket. He stops by a bush and lights up. He inhales a lungful of smoke, wrinkling his face in disgust. 

He slips his phone out of his pocket and waits. Five seconds later, it buzzes. He accepts the call. "Yes?"

P'li says, "We're in position."

"Our lot?"

"Verified. And we expect to have three keys available."

Zaheer closes his eyes. "At last..." He breathes in, out. "We are a go."

P'li pauses. "What about...Raava?"

Zaheer smiles. Quietly he says, "According to the reports, her puppet is inexperienced. Poorly trained. Impulsive. If she appears tonight, I don't anticipate any difficulty in dealing with her."

P'li says, "Be...careful."

"Don't worry. I won't kill her. Merely...break her, if the chance arises."

He disconnects the call and removes the sim card from the phone. He crushes it beneath his heel on the gravel path, then kicks the broken shards under a bush. He watches the cigarette burn, letting the smoke waft over him. Then he returns to the limo where he nods at Li.

A minute later, the man Li hired Zaheer to protect strides into view.

Zaheer opens the passenger door and smiles at him. "Good evening, Mr Sato."

Hiroshi Sato grunts and climbs into the car, followed by Li.

Zaheer's smile vanishes, leaving no trace of its existence.

He adjusts his shoulder holster and takes his place beside the driver.

He's had to wait so many years for this night. He only needs to wait a few more hours.

Zaheer smiles.

It's going to be a very special night.

* * *

Korra has never seen anything like the party at the Republic City Gallery of Fine Art. From the moment Korra steps through the door into a huge, white hall with a glass roof and a series of sculptures occupying the space, she feels out of place, like the only thing that belongs here is the dress she's wearing.

A dozen or so people are milling around, sipping champagne and enjoying a string quartet who are playing in front of a freaking ice sculpture of...the same string quartet.

Korra doesn't recognise everyone who's here, but she does spot an up and coming movie star, and at least one professional athlete whose hair is as immaculately layered as his expression of disdain when Korra accidentally makes eye contact with him.

Korra looks away, only to find Asami watching her. Which is...not bad, but...Opal's advice is still repeating in Korra's head, and so far Asami just looks like Asami.

Except, when she takes off her shawl, it's Asami in a red dress that leaves her shoulders bare. Not to mention that her hair is even fancier than usual, and she's wearing a pendant that Korra thinks might be made out of jade. She hasn't dared take a second look to confirm that theory because...well, because of where the pendant's hanging.

Opal appears at Korra's side, smirking and looking completely at ease. "If you give me your jacket, I'll check it for you, Korra!"

Korra nods, stomach churning. "Uh, thanks! Huh, so, I was worried we were late, but there aren't many people here yet? So that's good, haha."

Kuvira, snorts and says, "We _are_ late. This is the vestibule. The reception and the auction will be taking place upstairs."

Asami makes a face behind Kuvira's back, and that both helps and makes things worse.

Asami says, "The people here...well, they're probably hoping to buttonhole someone who hasn't arrived yet, away from the crowds. There's no one we need to be worried about here, though."

"Oh." Korra shrugs off her jacket and passes it to Opal. "Right! So...we should go upstairs?"

Asami smiles at Korra. "It's fine, Korra. We've got plenty of time to get up there and...uh...mingle..."

Asami's eyes widen slightly as she takes in Korra's bare arms.

Opal whispers in Korra's ear, "There! That's the face I told you to look out for!" More loudly she says, "Okay, great, got your jacket, Korra, got your wrap, Asami. Kuvira's going to help me check these in while you two check each other out! Oh, I'm sorry! Check the _auction_ out!"

Asami blushes almost as furiously as she glares at her friend. "Opal _Beifong_! That's not-"

"Can't talk! Checking things in!" Opal quickly strides away trailing vast quantities of smug in her wake. Kuvira rolls her eyes but follows her, glaring suspiciously at a sculpture that gets too close to Opal.

Which just leaves Korra with Asami. Korra almost wishes there were some ghosts around, but for once, they're absent.

They avoid each other's eyes. There's what feels like an hour of strained silence, then:

"So, uh, did you-"

"Should we, maybe-"

"Sorry!"

"No, no! You were saying?"

Korra looks at Asami, who is carefully watching the ice sculpture melt. And suddenly she realises that Opal might be right. That Kyoshi might be right. That somehow, for some reason, Asami might...like her. 

And Korra has no idea what to do about that. Because all the things she told Kyoshi and Aang are still true. She can't date Asami, not when she's pretending that she's someone she isn't.

She isn't simply Korra, the budding journalist with a crush. She's Korra, the Blue Spirit, too.

Which leaves her and Asami in an increasingly awkward silence. Korra has no idea what to do. Until, suddenly, she does.

"Hey. I'm Korra." She thrusts out her hand at Asami. "Nice to meet you...?"

Asami blinks, stares at Korra's outstretched hand and slowly smiles. She grasps Korra's hand. "Asami. It's a pleasure to meet you, Korra. What brings you here tonight?"

Korra grins, leaning towards Asami. "Don't let on, but I'm a reporter. I'm here to track down these very bad people calling themselves the Red Lotus."

"Oh, my!" Asami widens her eyes and places a hand to her chest. "That's very dramatic! And very trusting, Korra. What if I were one of these bad people?"

Asami quirks an eyebrow challengingly, an easy smile on her lips.

Korra grins. "Then I think _everybody_ would be in trouble! But I doubt it. I think you're one of the good ones, Asami."

"Well, thank you!" Asami brushes a long strand of her lustrous black hair behind her ear. She pierces Korra with an earnest look. "I think you're one of the good ones, too, Korra."

She says it quietly enough to make Korra's heart pound harder than it was in Zolt's den earlier. Korra coughs. "So..."

Asami smiles. "So. Want to know a secret?"

"Well, yeah! I'm a reporter!"

Asami grins. "Me, too! And I'm also after the Red Lotus."

"What are the odds? Whoah...do you know what I was just thinking?"

"Mmm..." Asami smirks at her, tapping a finger against her chin. "That we should...work together to bring down the bad guys?" 

Korra widens her eyes comically. "That is exactly what I was thinking! Wow!"

Asami laughs. "Well, there are a couple of people who brought plus ones we should identify..."

"And...uh...well, there's a mystery lot, right? What are the odds that the bad guys are after that?"

"Logically? It's hard to say. But...reporter's instincts..."

"And every movie ever made..."

"Right! That, too! We need to find out what it is. And keep an eye out for anyone who's overly interested in it."

"It could get dangerous, Asami. We may have to schmooze with rich old men and dodge scary police captains."

Asami laughs again, and Korra realises that she's never heard Asami sounding so relaxed. Korra likes it. She likes being able to make Asami laugh. Being able to make her _want_ to lower her guard.

Asami says, "Sipping champagne and hiding behind exhibits? I'm willing to take those kinds of risks, Korra!"

For a moment, they can smile at each other and it's comfortable. It's...good.

For a moment.

It passes.

Korra sighs. "We...should we wait for Opal?"

Asami's smile fades. "Ah. I guess we should. Uh...about what she said..."

"Yeah?" Korra has to fight not to wipe her palms on her dress.

Asami toys with her pendant. "Korra...this is a little weird, huh? Between us, now?"

Korra swallows. "Uh...a little. I guess."

Asami nods, her expression thoughtful, her eyes focused on the ground again. "This...we said that this wasn't an actual date. But...I should never have said this was a date at all. Even a fake one. It was...it _is_ unprofessional. I'm sorry."

Korra opens her mouth. She hesitates. "Look...it's okay. I know you weren't..."

And the thing is, Korra has lots of good reasons to take the out that Asami is offering her. But if she's learned nothing else from the experience of discovering Raava, of being mentored by ghosts, of being the Blue Spirit, she's learned this: reason isn't always a good enough reason to do something.

"Uh, actually, Asami?"

Asami looks up at her.

Korra looks into Asami's eyes, and she sees the doubt, the uncertainty, the vulnerability in them.

She sees the hope.

So Korra says, "Do you want to be my real date tonight?"

Asami's eyes widen. Her lips part.

But before she can say anything, Opal comes back, bringing a small crowd with her.

* * *

Opal smiles at the coat check guy and passes him her haul of garments. She whispers to Kuvira, "Psst!"

Kuvira sighs. "I'm your bodyguard, Ms Beifong. I'm always paying attention."

Opal rolls her eyes. "How are Asami and Korra doing?"

"I'm paying attention to possible threats. Not your friends and their..."

"Painful lack of flirting skills? Just...come on, Kuvi! Obviously I can't look right now, so lighten up and help me out! Use your cop observation powers! Are they getting on? Or are they taking a trip to the city of Crash in the state of Burnsville?"

Kuvira is silent for almost ten seconds, long enough for Opal to finish her checking business. She stands beside Kuvira to one side of the main entrance.

"Ms Beifong. Please do not call me...pet names. Or ask me to get involved in..." Kuvira grimaces. When she speaks again, it's much quieter. "Is Ms Sato really...she's dating...her?"

Opal narrows her eyes. "Korra. Who is a lovely person, thank you. And Asami wants to date her, yes! But whether she can pull it off is an open question."

Kuvira purses her lips. "Hm. Well."

Kuvira turns her head, slowly sweeping the entire vestibule. Opal, who doesn't want to risk upsetting either Asami or Korra at this delicate moment by getting caught staring at them, watches Kuvira instead. She smiles when Kuvira's gaze lingers for a second on Opal's friends.

"So, Vira! What's your take?"

"That you're trying to needle me. It won't work."

"I'm trying to make this more fun. Because, as much as I appreciate you looking out for me, you're a walking reminder that this has been an awful week and that I'm still in danger. Kuvira."

Kuvira considers Opal for a moment. She inclines her head, a fraction of an inch, maybe, before she goes back to watching everything and everyone around them.

After a moment, Kuvira says, "I think that your friends aren't destined to be remembered as history's greatest lovers, given their...skittishness. I always go directly for what I want. I'm surprised Asami isn't more...proactive."

Opal frowns. "What does that mean?"

"It's merely an observation. Whatever else is happening...they are clearly attracted to each other, so maybe they'll-"

Opal huffs in annoyance. "Okay, seriously, what is the deal with you and Asami? I don't think she's even met you, so-"

Kuvira raises a hand. "Ah...your fiance is here."

Opal blinks, whipping her head around, and there, not ten feet away, is a small group of new arrivals coming through the main door and one of them is...

"Bolin!"

Opal breaks into a sprint and launches herself at him.

He spins at the sound of her voice and catches her, like he always does, and he breaks into a huge, huge grin and his big green eyes light up. He holds her tight and then she's kissing him like she's been wanting to all day.

"Hey," she says when they part and he sets her down.

And if she hates how small and shy her voice sounds, she loves the way his arms close around her again and he hugs her and whispers lovingly into her ear: "Opal...there's a really scary woman glaring at me right now. Help!"

Opal gives him a quick squeeze and steps away. "Bolin, this is my RCPD bodyguard, Kuvira! Kuvira, meet my beloved, Bolin."

"Greetings, Kuvira!" Bolin booms. "You look out for my gal? Then in Nuktuk, you've made a pal!"

He grins happily at her.

Kuvira raises an eyebrow at Bolin. "Good...evening."

Bolin looks at Opal, puzzled. "Is Kuvira not a movie fan?"

"No idea!" Opal sighs, slips her arm around his waist and boops his button nose. To Kuvira she says, "Isn't he the cutest?"

Kuvira clears her throat and looks around for a second in a bodyguard-y way that doesn't fool Opal.

Opal gestures at the knot of people behind Bolin. "And this is the incredibly talented CEO of Varrick Enterprises, Zhu Li! And...Zhu Li's people who I haven't met before! Hello!"

Zhu Li says, "I must make preparations for Varrick's holographic arrival. Excuse me."

She and her team stride briskly away, leaving Opal with Bolin, Kuvira and...

Opal narrows her eyes. "Oh, and that's some jerk called-"

"Mako," Kuvira says, stiffly, her body tensing slightly.

Mako, wearing a stylish charcoal suit and a troubled expression, nods. "Kuvira. How are you?"

"Working. You?"

"Officially? No. But, yes."

"I'll take that into account. I assume Bolin is your main?"

"Yes. But I imagine he and Opal will be staying near each other, so we should coordinate."

"Agreed. You came through security. You're unarmed. Taser?"

"Thanks."

Kuvira steps closer to Mako, reaches for a holster at the small of her back and surreptitiously passes him the weapon. She holds his eye for a second. "You're welcome."

Opal glares at Mako who blinks and quickly looks away, tucking the weapon out of sight under his jacket.

She transfers her glare to Kuvira who says, "Opal. Bolin. Please step away from the door. We should proceed upstairs now."

Opal whispers to Bolin, "Okay, you felt that tension between them, right?"

Bolin whispers, "I know! Bodyguard talk is so cool! It's like they're always constipated."

"Not what I meant, but...sure?"

"Hey, you know I'm always on the lookout for ways to improve my craft!"

Opal rolls her eyes. Then she darts up and kisses him, to show she doesn't mean it. "Goof! Paying attention to _subtext_ is an important aspect of your craft. You with me?"

"Huh. Good point. I'll do more of that! Hey, so...why are we whispering?"

Opal laughs. She grabs Bolin's lapel and tugs him down into more effective kissing range. "Oh, nevermind! I just wanted you to myself for a while, I guess."

Bolin grins and kisses her back. He grabs Opal's hand and begins to tug her towards the elevators. "Yeah, I kinda wish we could skip the auction, but your mom might get mad."

He pauses, his expression becoming guilty. "Uh, and hospitals are good, too! And I support them!

Opal laughs. "I know. And you're definitely not scared of my mom. Or my auntie Lin."

"N-no! Nope! Haha! Not even slightly! They'll, uh, both be here, huh? Which is _so_ great!"

Opal grabs his arm in both hands and hauls at him when he starts off for the elevators again. "Wrong way, beloved."

"Oh, really? Well, okay." He stops moving. Opal tugs at him, managing to drag him a step in the right direction.

Bolin says, "So, uh, I'm sorry I've been hard to reach today. So many meetings. Varrick even conferenced in, and you know how that can go. But I'm really super extra pumped that you weren't kidnapped, and you have to tell me everything, but punctuate the story with more kisses, because I've been wanting to kiss you all day, and there's no such thing as enough Opal kisses, and also we should camp out in my place for the next month. Oh, and I have super exciting secret news I'm not supposed to tell you!" 

He glances around them, carefully winking at Mako and Kuvira, before leaning in and stage whispering. "I'm going to, though!"

Opal smiles, kisses him, then goes back to trying to haul him towards Korra and Asami. "Okay, well, good plan on all fronts, but first I want you to meet someone. So get walking, mister."

Opal guides Bolin and their attendant bodyguards over to Asami and Korra. It's hard to say what's happening between the two of them, since Asami has her back to Opal.

As soon as she's in range, Opal says, "Hey, guys! I hope we're interrupting something?"

* * *

Asami starts, turning quickly, composing her features into a professional smile. She isn't sure whether she's angry at the interruption or furious.

She's keenly aware of Korra waiting quietly beside her. She's never been _more_ keenly aware of Korra. Aside from the question of the question she just asked, there's the blueness of her eyes, the crookedness of her smile, the frankly adorable way she evaporated the awkward air between them, and all the incredible she looks in an evening dress. But perhaps most significantly right now, there's the matter of her arms.

Asami has, of course, been aware of the conceptual existence of Korra's arms from the moment she first met her. But she had _no idea_ about the toned, rippling reality of Korra's arms. Processing this new information is occupying a considerable amount of her mental capacity.

It doesn't leave much left over for dealing with anyone that isn't Korra right now. Least of all Mako, who hovers behind Opal and Bolin with a grimace and the beginnings of a greeting on his lips.

Before he can say anything, though, Bolin engulfs her in a hug.

Asami hugs Bolin almost as fiercely as he hugs her. "Hey, Bo! Good to see you looking well."

He pulls away grinning sunnily. "Don't worry! Nuktuk's nut's a tough nut to crack!"

Asami finds herself relaxing. She grins at him and plants a kiss on his cheek. "And congratulations!"

Bolin blinks, his smile fading. "You know?"

Opal chuckles nervously, slipping her arm through Bolin's. "I, uh, yeah? I told her..."

Bolin blinks some more. "Wait. _You_ know?"

Opal narrows her eyes. "Yes. I would think I was the first to know?"

Asami smiles. "I'm not sure _anyone_ knows what we're talking about at this point, Bo."

Korra steps forward, smiling nervously. "Uh, hi! Big fan! And congratulations on your engagement!"

Bolin blinks some more. "Oh. Ooooh! Right! Of course! The best news! I thought you meant the secret other news which I haven't told anyone!"

Opal huffs. "That was close, mister. But you just about got away with it! Now." Opal winks at Asami as she tugs Bolin closer to Korra. "This is who I wanted you to meet. This is Korra. We like her."

Bolin eagerly seizes and shakes Korra's hand. "Hi, Korra! Nice to meet you! I'm looking forward to finding out exactly why I like you so much!"

Korra laughs and she and Bolin start talking Nuktuk. Asami watches the tension easing out of Korra and finds herself smiling, aware that she's staring and that she should probably stop.

She doesn't, until Mako puts himself in her line of vision. "Asami. And...Korra? You're..." Mako's jaw drops. "Wait. _Korra's_ your date? I thought she was your assistant."

Asami feels herself flushing, feels her temper slipping, and makes a wild grab at it. "She was! And now...she's my partner." Asami meets Korra's eye. Korra looks anxious. And...hopeful. "And...yes. Korra is my date."

Korra starts to smile, and she doesn't stop. Her eyes light up, become dazzling, her lips part in a grin and she seems to grow an inch taller. "Yup! I...am Asami Sato's actual real date!"

Asami grins back. "You are! So...um..."

"Uh. Yeah!" Korra is suddenly at her side, offering her arm. "May I...uh, escort you to the ball?"

Mako gapes at them. Sulkily he mutters, "It's not even a ball!"

Asami shoots him a cold glare. She slips her arm through Korra's, marvelling at the feel of her smooth, firm skin and the hard muscle beneath.

Kuvira pointedly clears her throat. "Mako. Bolin and Opal are moving."

Opal grins over her shoulder as she strides away. "Yup! Get back to guarding these bodies, you two!"

Mako starts and quickly hustles after Bolin.

Which gives Asami a moment with Korra.

Asami says, "It may not be a ball, but there might be dancing..."

"I'm a terrible dancer."

They start walking. Asami says, "Me, too."

Korra laughs. "You're totally lying to spare my feelings. I bet you're an amazing dancer."

"What makes you think I'm lying?" Asami tries to sound indignant, but she suspects she sounds happy.

Korea laughs. "Oh, I honestly wouldn't know if you were. Except...you're kinda good at everything? So. Be honest. How many competitions have you won?"

"Oh, I haven't won anything!" Asami blushes. "Well...not since I was a child. It's been a while since my lessons, but I could teach you the basics. If you want?"

"Did you bring those ice packs? Because you'll need them for your feet."

Asami laughs. When Korra stops moving, Asami looks around and realises they've somehow magically made it to the elevators.

Asami turns back to find Korra watching her in a way that does nothing to make Asami blush less.

Asami says, "If there's dancing...I'm...willing to take the risk."

Korra sighs, her grin fading into an earnest smile. "Yeah. Yeah. I am, too. I'm...willing to take a lot of risks tonight."

Asami squeezes Korra's arm.

The six of them get into the elevator. Asami has to let go of Korra and it's a little scary that she feels the loss of contact as keenly as she does. Minutes ago they were colleagues. Now...

Asami has no idea where this is headed, but now that she doesn't have to deny it, it's shocking how powerful her attraction to Korra is. Right now, for example, she's more aware of Korra's body than she is of her own. 

She can feel the warmth of Korra's skin where their shoulders are almost touching. She's aware of how little space separates them, of how Korra is trying to politely listen to Bolin, but she's shooting little glances Asami's way and smiling wider and wider every time she gets caught.

Opal nudges Asami, leans in close and whispers, "Good call on your choice of undies!"

Asami swats her arm, but there's no force to the blow, nor to the glare that Asami gives her. 

When they leave the elevator, Korra offers her arm again, and all the butterflies that have been swarming in her stomach take giddy flight through her body.

Asami says, "I can hear a band playing..."

Korra smiles. "I, uh, will be as gentle on your feet as I can..."

It's a short walk from the elevators to the gallery. 

They pause there for a moment, and while Korra takes in the sight of Suyin Beifong's auction, Asami takes in the sight of Korra and grins. "You look beautiful, Korra."

Korra whips her head around. "Uh..." She blushes. "Thanks. You do, too. I mean...if it wasn't obvious from my babbling this morning...I...think you're...amazing."

Mako clears his throat in Asami's ear. "We should go in."

Bolin clears his throat more loudly. "Hey, guys? Before we do..."

Asami wraps both her arms around Korra's. "What's up, Bo?"

"Well..." Bolin pauses to kiss Opal. "Okay. So this is kind of a big secret, and I'm not really supposed to tell everybody about it yet, but you're all my friends now, so you're not just _anybody_ and you guys are definitely not _everybody_ in the whole world. And I'm pretty sure I can trust you to keep this to yourselves. So!"

Mako sighs. "Bro...the point?"

Opal snaps, "Don't be a jerk!" She looks up at Bolin. "But also...what are you trying to say?"

Bolin grins at them all. "What I'm trying to say...no, no! To announce! I'm announcing that...I'm the Blue Spirit!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew! I've had some fun battles with writer's block this last week or so, as well as some other (trivial but time consuming) stuff that I need to deal with this weekend, so...the slight lead I had (about a chapter ahead of releases) is all gone. Which means that next chapter...probably isn't going up next week. Apologies. Let's say it'll be a fortnight from now, okay? That should be enough time for me to get the Exciting Finale of Bids written!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this one! Please leave a comment with any thoughts or criticisms or witticisms! They are all always appreciated!
> 
> Cheers folks! See you soon!


	9. Bids Finale

Opal takes in the shocked and incredulous expressions on the faces of her friends and sighs. "Honey? Before someone arrests you, tell us what you actually mean?"

Bolin wrinkles his brow. "Why would anyone arrest me?"

Mako rolls his eyes. "Bro...the Blue Spirit is a dangerous vigilante. One who's more likely to be shot than get arrested."

Korra glares at him. "Shot? Seriously? Did you actually file a report saying that the Blue Spirit assaulted a police officer?"

Mako snaps, "I was doing my duty!"

Asami clears her throat. "You aren't the Blue Spirit. The Blue Spirit is a woman, Bolin."

Bolin blinks. "She is?" He peers down at Opal. "Ooh, right! I forgot you said...huh. Really?"

Opal smiles at him and squeezes his hand. "Really. I have, uh, personally confirmed this information!"

"Right, right! You kissed her."

Mako's head whips round. He glares at her, rubbing his bruised jaw.

"Yeah, that's not really relevant right now," Opal quickly says. "I totally did, though," she adds in a whisper to Bolin. 

Mako shifts his glare to Asami. "I didn't see what I thought I saw, huh?"

Asami offers him a half-shrug. "I didn't think it was a relevant detail."

Korra blushes and rubs her neck, obviously embarrassed by this kissing talk. Opal can't help but feel that it's kinda cute and that her mission to get Asami and Korra together is a righteous one.

Bolin frowns. "Oh, wow, I wonder if Varrick will still want me to play the hero? Maybe I could be the villain! Oooh, just think how menacing I'd look in black spandex!"

"I'm sure you'd be terrifying!" Opal grins at the others, keen to move the conversation away from anything that might make Mako suspect she punched him on purpose. "A Blue Spirit blockbuster! How about that, Korra?"

Korra looks up, eyes widening "A...blockbuster? About...the Blue Spirit? That's...why? Why is that a thing? The Blue Spirit should not be a thing! I mean, not a big thing! Like a movie thing? That's a big kind of thing! Too big a kind of thing!"

Bolin grins. "No, it's perfect! Varrick knows an opportunity when he sees one! The Blue Spirit is going to make a huge splash soon, believe me!"

He throws an arm across Opal's shoulders and cheerfully kisses the top of her head. "Anyway! That's the news! And part of what kept me so busy today. Varrick wants to make a Blue Spirit movie! I haven't seen the script yet, because we don't have one, but I tried on some costumes, and I've been working with an eyebrow coach so I can prepare for when I'm wearing the mask! It's going to be great!"

Opal has a suspicion that by 'splash,' Bolin means that Varrick's planning on engaging his publicity engines to boost the Blue Spirit into the mainstream consciousness.

Asami frowns for the first time since she admitted Korra was her date. "What do you mean? Varrick's going to... _promote_ the Blue Spirit? He wants to play publicist to a superhero?"

Mako snorts. "Vigilante. And I actually agree with Korra. The Blue Spirit doesn't deserve this kind of attention."

Opal can see things spiralling out of hand as Bolin starts to pout, Mako to glare, Asami to grind her teeth and Korra...Korra just looks plain stricken.

Kuvira's the only one who looks mostly unfazed. Opal meets her eye and nods at the party. Kuvira nods back murmurs something to Mako.

Opal claps her hands, getting everyone else's attention.

"Okay, kids! Bolin's new secret movie project will have to wait! We have an auction to go help make happen! So let's go mingle and talk to people and maybe Bolin and I should go see my mother? Or insert some other flimsy pretext to give Korra and Asami alone time here?"

Asami blushes. "Opal! Stop!"

Korra rubs her neck, glancing at Asami. "Um, actually we should..."

Asami looks at her and nods. "See what we can find out about the Red Lotus. I can go talk to a few people, if you..."

"Yeah, I'll check out the lots! Meet you at the buffet table?"

Bolin leans closer to Opal and whispers, "Are they finishing each other's reporter sentences right now?"

Opal grins at him. "Yep! Aren't they the cutest? Other than us?"

* * *

Asami has a suspicion that she might be smiling too much.

She really doesn't care.

"Why the buffet table?"

Korra dazzles her with a grin. Asami very much enjoys being allowed to appreciate Korra's grin.

Korra says, "Because I'm betting you forgot to eat dinner. So I'm going to make sure you eat something here, Ms Sato. It's still my job to look after you."

Opal and Bolin are making their way into the auction hall, so Asami slips her arm through Korra's and the two of them start walking. "I didn't forget! I ran out of time! That's a completely different thing."

Korra gently bumps her shoulder. Well, upper arm. "Suuure it is! We're going to go digging like responsible journalists, but then we're eating like...responsible adults! Or...mostly responsible adults." Korra pauses. "I'm going to eat a lot of cake," she confides. "Maybe all of it."

Asami laughs. "Well, work first. Then...um...other things! Date things!"

Asami winces, wondering where she lost the ability to construct sentences, but Korra grins at her.

She says, "Yeah! Date things. So...actually, I should maybe follow Opal? Who better to quiz about mystery lots than our host?"

Asami chuckles. "Good luck!"

"Back at you!" Korra's grin fades. "Uh...why will I need luck exactly?"

* * *

Korra's more than a little bewildered by everything that's happened in the last ten minutes. But the way Asami smiles at her is both a cause of and antidote to her confusion. Korra might not know how wise she's being -- or what to do about the fact that she's apparently inspired a movie -- but Asami's smile tells her that it doesn't matter.

Asami says, "Korra...where do you think Opal gets her sense of adventure from? Tell Suyin I told her to be gentle with you."

Korra swallows. "Uh...right. Okay. I've...still got this."

"I have complete faith in you. Now...I see the Canadian ambassador. He's on my list, so..."

She winks at Korra, then glides off across the hall, somehow looking both elegant and determined.

Korra can't help but watch her go, sighing. "Oh, I'm in so much trouble..."

"Yes," Kyoshi observes with some satisfaction. "The best kind, in my experience."

Korra barely flinches. She sighs again, less happily. "I was wondering when one of you would show up. And be smug."

Kyoshi snorts. "Kyoshi is never smug. Being smug about something you predicted coming to pass implies that there was some doubt about it happening."

"And Kyoshi doesn't do doubt. Got it. Let's just...figure out what a crazy secret society might want to steal, okay?"

Kyoshi inclines her head and they set off together around the hall.

It's a big space, if less colossal than the ground floor. Towards the back of the hall are rows of chairs facing a small stage, bviously where the auction will take place later. For now, a jazz band is playing for the attendees.

No one's dancing. Korra isn't sure if that's a relief or a disappointment.

A small cluster of people are setting up some kind of weird-looking projector thing on the floor near the seats. A few people are watching them, but no one seems overly concerned.

Over to her right are the buffet tables. A small battalion of wait staff are ensuring that food and drink are flowing around the hall. Based on what Asami told her, at least some of the wait staff are RCPD officers in disguise. 

The hall has been cleared of exhibits. In their place, the items up for auction are being displayed. Korra watches people strolling around the hall, sipping and nibbling while they make conversation and study the lots.

She recognises a lot of famous faces, including Mayor Raiko, who is surrounded by the type of old men who probably are as important as they think they are, but are nevertheless unbearable in their self-importance.

Korra tries to focus on finding Opal, but she's distracted by the stares of some of the attendees. She snags a glass of champagne from a passing waiter who smiles broadly at her.

Korra pauses by a display case containing a fancy green robe and pretends to read the placard.

"People are staring at me. Do you think any of them could be Red Lotus?"

Kyoshi snorts. "Korra! I should not need to explain why they are staring. They _hope_ they are a threat, but only to your celibacy."

Korra chokes on her drink.

Kyoshi studies the robe while Korra sputters. "After almost two hundred years, it is in excellent condition."

Korra blinks. "Uh, it says it's only about a century old. And the starting price is thirty _thousand_? Can you believe..."

She trails off, and actually _looks_ at the robe. It's made of green silk, faded but intact. There's a chest piece, made of some dark, rigid material that almost looks armour. There's no sash, Korra realises, and she knows that there should be because...

Korra looks at Kyoshi's similarly-clothed ghost. "This was _yours_?"

"Yes. Part of my battle garb. I wonder who stole it."

"Did you leave it to an...heir? Or something? Because it's not yours now that you're...y'know. Dead."

Kyoshi raises an eyebrow at Korra. "Have you found where my body is buried?"

Korra rolls her eyes and moves on, sipping her drink and sweeping her gaze around the room. "Do you think your robe-"

"No. It is...was exquisitely designed for the era, but hardly worth the effort the Red Lotus are making to acquire whatever it is they want."

"Oh. Okay. I guess that would've been too easy. Still...weird."

"Korra..."

Korra pretends she's examining a small and incredibly ugly statue while she meets Kyoshi's semi-transparent eyes. "Everything okay?"

Kyoshi nods. "In answer to your question...I have no heirs. Only successors."

"Oh! Right. Uh...sorry."

"You are sorry to be my successor?"

Korra flushes. "N-no! I mean...you're messing with me."

"Kyoshi does not mess!" Kyoshi smirks. "But if she ever did, she would surely never give it away."

Korra chuckles. "Sure! Well, I promise I'll try to be a good...successor." 

Kyoshi frowns. "Be Korra. That is all anyone can ask of you. And it is what you must demand of yourself." She pauses. Before Korra can figure out how to respond, Kyoshi adds: "Opal is behind you."

Korra looks over her shoulder and, sure enough, Opal and Bolin are talking with an attractive older woman. Suyin Beifong doesn't have her sister Lin's solid build. She's all willowy curves in a figure-hugging dress, elegantly curled hair, and airy confidence.

But there's something about her keen eyes and her poise that tells Korra it would be a mistake to assume she wasn't every bit as tough in her own way as Captain Beifong.

Korra turns back to Kyoshi. "Thanks..."

Kyoshi is gone.

Korra frowns. "I am being me. When I'm not...being a dumb superhero for Raava. Right?"

No one answers her.

She sighs. Then she takes another sip of wine, squares her shoulders, and marches over to meet Suyin Beifong.

* * *

Opal leans into Bolin's side and sips carefully at her first -- but not her last -- glass of champagne.

Her mother says, "I'll say this much for your aunt, her people make for passable waiters."

Opal rolls her eyes. "That's very generous, mother."

Suyin's smile doesn't falter, even when she narrows her eyes at Opal. "The odds of anyone attacking the museum with or without the RCPD presence are vanishingly remote. And every person here tonight has been thoroughly vetted. But if they do..." She places her hand on Opal's arm. "I look forward to their _painful_ failure."

Opal glances to her right, where Mako and Kuvira are doing their best to be inconspicuous beside a display case. She frowns, studying their body language and the way they aren't looking at each other, until Bolin gently squeezes her.

Opal smiles up at him. "How are you doing, hubby-to-be?"

"Thinking about tacos." He grins. "Because I love you."

Suyin raises an eyebrow.

Opal laughs. "He proposed at our favourite food truck."

"I...was unaware of that detail." Suyin raises her glass and pretends to drink. Quietly she says, "Do either of you know the skittish young woman hovering behind you?"

"I thought _everyone_ had been vetted? Shouldn't you know?" Opal peers round Bolin's back and grins. She waves at Korra. "Korra! Come hither!"

Korra joins them, smiling sheepishly. "Hi! I, uh, like what you've done with the place!"

Korra's smile fades and she tilts her head, studying Suyin.

Suyin inclines her head to Korra, but she shoots Opal a questioning look.

Opal snorts. "This is Korra. She works for the _Chronicle_." And, because as much as Opal loves her, her mother _can_ be a snob, Opal adds, "She's Asami Sato's mystery date!"

Suyin raises an eyebrow and appraises Korra. "Really? She must be thrilled."

Opal winces.

Korra's shoulders tense. "Uh, yeah! I'm...the plus one. At this...amazing party! Which, actually, I was wondering-"

Suyin smiles her most sincere fake smile. "How delightful! I would love to chat, but I must see to a few things before the auction starts. Do enjoy your evening, dear."

Opal flushes. "Mother! Korra's a friend."

Bolin nods, solemnly. "We like her."

Korra doesn't quite gape at them, but her surprise is evident. It's nothing to the warm, genuine grin that follows.

Suyin sighs. "Opal...I really _do_ have things to do. But I apologise if you found me...brusque, Korra."

Korra turns her grin on Suyin and says, "Oh, not at all!"

Suyin nods, and dismisses her. "Opal, I'll-"

"I didn't find you brusque. You were being pretty rude," Korra continues, still grinning. "But that's okay, you're going to make it up to me."

And now it's Opal who is most definitely gaping and frantically shaking her head, because the only person who talks to Suyin Beifong like that and gets away with it is...no one ever in Opal's lifetime.

Suyin takes her time turning, patting her hair, sipping her drink, then nailing Korra with a glare so cold _Opal_ gets goosebumps. "Excuse me?"

Opal quickly says, "Haha! Oh, hey, anybody read about that crazy kidnapping attempt this morning? Oh, wait, no; that actually happened to me! Um...the weather? It sure is doing something right now?"

Bolin nods sagely. "True, but only on the outside."

Korra meets Suyin's eye, her grin broadening. "You heard me. Here's what's going to happen." Suddenly, she thrusts out her hand. "See, I've always wanted to shake the hand of the lead singer of The Metal Clan."

Bolin frowns. "Wait...that old band?"

Opal blinks. "What."

Suyin sucks in a breath and...laughs. She grasps Korra's hand and gives her an entirely hearty and unladylike shake. "Oh, come now! That was _decades_ ago! Don't tell me you recognised me from that one blurry album photo?"

Opal stares at her mother. "What."

Korra laughs. "I almost didn't! Your style's changed quite a bit. But I recognised the attitude! That was a _classic_ Suki Platinum death glare! You know a couple of your shows got recorded? They're online, now!"

"I haven't heard that name in _years_! I had the most ridiculous hair, didn't I?"

"Uh, ridiculously great, maybe!"

Opal looks helplessly at Bolin, who is squinting at Suyin's face through the frame of his fingers. "Hmm...wow! The Platinum Punkette!"

Opal shakes her head. "What. Who. Suki? Suki _Platinum_?"

Suyin chuckles and turns to Opal. "Yes, darling. That was my stage name when I toured with a punk metal band."

Opal downs her champagne and gestures frantically at a waiter. "Uh huh, right, okay? You were...? Why didn't I know this?"

Suyin snorts. "We were hardly a major player like Barbarian Death Poets. We were a blip on the scene. A scene I left when I got bored." She smirks at Opal. "I did have a life before I met your father, darling. Quite a few lives, really."

Opal nods, exchanging her empty glass for two full ones. "Thanks! That's fascinating, mother? I so don't want to know more?"

Korra says, "You were way better than Barbarian Death Poets! Your lyrics had actual poetry, for a start. Do you still write? And sing?"

Suyin quirks a smile at Opal. "Aha. We _do_ like her. I don't sing anymore, Korra. Though I do still dabble in poetry. Now. I truly must dash in a minute, but your flattery was appreciated. What was your question?"

Korra starts. "Oh! Right! Um...what's the mystery lot?"

Opal snorts and takes another gulp of champagne. "I've been failing to pry that out of her all day!"

Suyin offers Korra a genuine smile. "I really can't say."

"I mean, I get why, obviously. But it's not like I'm in a position to bid on anything here and you guys are almost everyone I know. I won't tell anyone. Honest."

"Mmm. But you're Asami's date...?"

"Yeah, but it's not like she can afford..." Korra's eyes widen. "Oh." Her voice tightens. "She can, can't she?"

Opal passes one of her glasses to Bolin and darts across him to Korra's side. She pats Korra's shoulder. "I'm sure you weren't trying to slip Asami information on the night's star lot for unscrupulous purposes!"

"Uh...no?" Korra squares her shoulders. "Look, Captain Beifong has already been through this with you, probably, but Asami...and I...we're looking for the Red Lotus' motive in going after Opal. Honestly? We're looking at the mystery lot because it's one of the few things we don't know anything about that might be a clue as to what they're doing."

Suyin purses her lips. "Hmph! Well, for the record, Lin asked no such thing. But I'm not sure what you think you could do with the information, so I'm not going to tell you."

Korra deflates. "Right. Of course. Thanks for hearing me out at least, Ms Platinum."

Opal jabs her elbow into Korra's side, hissing. "Ms Beifong!"

Suyin shakes her head, smirking. "I simply must go and make sure everything is ready. Including the mystery lot. Which I will _show_ you, Korra. Come along!"

Korra grins. "Yes! Thanks, Ms, uh! Mrs-"

"Oh, please call me Su!"

Opal watches the two of them make their way through the hall, towards a guarded door. She rubs her elbow and laughs. "Well, well! Korra's just...full of surprises."

Bolin nods. "So's your mother! I can't believe she used to be in The Metal Clan! Mako isn't going to believe it!"

Opal finishes her champagne and trades the empty glass for the full one she gave Bolin. "I'm about three glasses short of being ready for that talk, beloved. Come on. We're going to go bother Asami. After we get more champagne."

* * *

Asami is making progress, even if it's only whittling away at the tiny list of people who might offer some kind of lead. It was always more of a hope than a possibility, but Asami's almost ready to give up hope.

In fact, she's almost ready to give up on the Red Lotus for the rest of the night. Given the level of security here, she can't imagine that they'll be moving on the museum tonight. 

And she's got a real date tonight. With Korra.

She's been mingling, sipping champagne and sharing fake laughter with a variety of people who are keen to know her. Not because of who she is, or what she does, but because she represents -- to a certain sort of deeply misguided person -- a direct conduit to Hiroshi Sato and the Future Industries empire.

Asami's currently lingering on the edge of a group discussing Mayor Raiko's re-election prospects. A middle-aged councillor is holding court, while his guest, a girl of maybe sixteen, fidgets beside him.

Asami is pretty sure the girl isn't a Red Lotus operative, but...she looks pretty dejected clutching at a glass of orange juice while Tarrlock drones on.

"I've told Raiko again and again that the crime in this city is getting out of hand. We need a crackdown on organised crime! Why, only this morning there was a gunfight in broad daylight!"

Asami catches the girl raising her glass and muttering behind it, "We need a task force..."

"We need a _task_ force to ensure that this lawlessness is curbed-"

Asami coughs politely. "That's a very interesting point of view, Councillor Tarrlock. Are you saying that you don't believe that the RCPD are up to the job of policing the city?"

The girl widens her eyes, watching Asami with interest.

Tarrlock glares at her. "And you are...?"

"Asami Sato." He smiles. "I'm with the _Republic City Chronicle_." 

His smile performs a vanishing act so swift and utter that it would make a stage magician jealous.

"I...see. Well, Ms Sato, I would say that it is more a question of optimally directing and coordinating existing resources to help manage a problem that is in danger of becoming unmanageable under the-"

"Ah, so you're saying that people like Captain Lin Beifong are to blame? You have no faith in the existing command structure of the police department? Interesting."

Tarrlock flushes. "I said no such thing! What manner of journalism do you practice, hm? Taking my words-"

Asami raises an eyebrow. "Oh, I'm not working just now, councillor. We're just making conversation at a social event, aren't we?"

Tarrlock pauses. "Indeed," he snaps. "And as I was saying-"

"Oh, dear! You must think me so rude! I haven't been introduced to this young lady."

Tarrlock blinks as Asami extends her hand to the girl at his side. "Ah? Oh. My niece. Say hello, Yue."

She shakes Asami's hand, beaming. "It's nice to meet you!"

"You, too. You're visiting Republic City?"

Yue nods. "For a few weeks. My uncle's been, um...showing me the sights." 

Asami rolls her eyes, prompting a giggle from Yue.

Tarrlock glares at them. "Now, Ms Sato, if I may continue...?"

"Oh, certainly! Do tell me more about how you would manage a task force more efficiently than people like..." Asami glances over his shoulder. "Oh! Good evening, Lin!"

Tarrlock sneers at her, until Lin Beifong steps into the circle in full dress uniform and drawls, "Ms Sato! What an interesting conversation you seem to be having."

Tarrlock, pale and tight-lipped, snaps, "Good evening, Captain Beifong. Everyone. I have to, ah...someone's calling! Yue, come!"

Yue trails after him, looking back at Asami and grinning happily.

Asami smiles. She turns and finds herself alone with Lin, Tarrlock's listeners all finding urgent reasons to be elsewhere.

Lin scowls at her. "Having fun?"

Asami sighs. "He's an insufferable idiot."

"He's an elected official who has real influence. You don't want him as an enemy. _I_ don't want him as an enemy. Pity you can't mind your own business."

Asami narrows her eyes. "So you were going to, what? Politely listen and nod along while he lays the foundation of his mayoral bid by maligning your fellow officers?"

Lin grimaces. "It's my fight. Not yours. Am I going to be reading about this tomorrow?"

Asami sighs. "Read about what? Tarrlock's possible political ambitions? Not under my byline."

Lin grunts. "Fine."

Asami sips her drink, scanning the room. She's slightly surprised that Lin's still alongside her. Softly she asks, "What's on your mind?"

Lin says nothing for a long time. Asami risks a glance at her face. Lin's brows are furrowed, her lips twisted up like she's about to spit out something sour. Through gritted teeth she says, "The Red Lotus investigation...off the record?"

"Of course."

"It's not progressing well."

Asami tries to keep the shock off her face. "I...see."

"This should be a straightforward case, but..." Lin grits her teeth. "This isn't just off the record. This is a 'tell anyone about this and I'll bury you in traffic tickets' conversation. Clear?"

"Can you do that? I thought you were Major Crimes?"

Lin glares at her.

Asami sighs. "Not a word to anyone. Promise."

"The men we've been questioning...most of them have lawyered up, but a couple gave us something. But that something was...nothing."

Asami frowns. "I don't understand."

"They don't know who they're working for. They don't even know _why_ they were trying to grab Opal. That woman...P'li? I get the impression that she's _real_ Red Lotus. These others are..."

Asami purses her lips. "Hmm. Recruits?"

Lin winces. "That's an unfortunately apt word. This isn't a gang of thieves. Or organised crime. The Red Lotus are structured more like...a covert operation. As far as I can gather. We've got no real intel on them, other than P'li's name. Which hasn't registered on any of the databases I have access to."

Asami bites her lip, a sense of disquiet growing inside her. "I don't like where this is going, Lin."

Lin snorts. "I don't like you calling me Lin, but you don't hear me complaining."

Asami rolls her eyes. "So...why tell me this?"

Lin gives her a level stare. "Because you're good at what you do, and because I have a feeling I might need outside help on this one. _Strictly_ in an information-gathering capacity."

Asami weighs that, taking another swallow of her champagne to buy some time. "I...feel like that's not the whole story. You already had Mako make a direct approach and I already agreed to share information. I want the Red Lotus stopped, Captain Beifong."

To Asami's surprise, Lin sighs. "Asami...I looked into the Future Industries stun gun P'li used. Turns out it was never purchased. From what I can gather, it should still be on a shelf in a warehouse somewhere. I've contacted Future Industries, but..."

Asami's body is rigid. Her knuckles are white where she's gripping the stem of her glass. "But it's taking too long. Because they're asking for a court order before they release any internal information. And you want me to talk to my father for you."

Lin's eyes harden. "I want to avoid weeks of dealing with lawyers. For Opal. And for Republic City. So I'm asking you for a favour, fully aware that I'll owe you one down the road."

Asami looks away. "I...can't make any promises. I'm not the shortcut people assume me to be. But...I'll message him tomorrow."

"No need."

Asami blinks, turning her head. Lin's expression is almost sympathetic as she gestures towards the elevators.

Asami looks and sees Hiroshi Sato stride into the room, flanked by a pair of bodyguards. 

"...oh."

Lin coughs. "I'll leave you to it."

Asami nods distractedly.

Of course Hiroshi Sato was invited tonight, but he so rarely puts in an appearance at events like this, preferring to make a substantial donation to the cause than give up his time. Asami hadn't really thought that he'd be here, but...

She walks towards him, placing her half-empty glass on a passing waiter's tray, and tries to work out when it became necessary for her to have to work out what to say to her father when she meets him.

* * *

Zaheer scans the room, his expression of indifference entirely unfeigned. None of these people impress him.

Though the holographic projector being set up near the stage...that's something he's pleased to see.

Hiroshi Sato makes his way through the crowd that begins to flock to him. He smiles, shakes the occasional hand, but never slows, never stops.

Not until a tall young woman with long black hair stops in front of him. "Dad...hi. I didn't think you would be here."

Asami Sato.

Hiroshi says, "Well, I am busy, but this seemed like the easiest way of seeing my daughter."

Zaheer studies her from the corner of his eye. Tall, long-limbed, athletic. Clearly a dangerous fighter, given the trouble she gave P'li. But even if she wasn't so distracted by whatever conflict she has with her father, she's wearing heels, and a long skirt that restricts her movement.

Like everyone else here, she assumes that she's safe, because how could she not be? She's surrounded by so many wealthy, powerful people. There are so many security measures in place. How could anything bad happen here.

Zaheer doesn't permit himself a smile. Tonight's work is too important for personal considerations, but...he believes that it's vital to be honest with yourself at all times. The truth is, he's looking forward to shaking these people out of their illusion of safety.

A prelude to the eventual goal of bringing their whole world crashing down around them.

Asami says, "Dad, I...I've been busy, too. And the last time we met wasn't...it didn't end well."

Hiroshi sighs. "Asami...do you really think that I would let a petty argument get in the way of...? I...excuse me." He turns to Zaheer. "Could you ensure our privacy for a few moments?"

Zaheer bows his head. He and Li back away a few steps and face the crowd. Zaheer watches the crew putting the last pieces of the projector together.

A small knot of people, two men, two women approach Hiroshi. Li intercepts them, saying, "Mr Sato needs a few moments of privacy."

Zaheer glances at them, his interest quickening into excitement. He recognises Opal Beifong, and her famous boyfriend. He doesn't know the other two, but they look like security. Even so...to have one of the keys so close, at this moment?

It feels a great deal like destiny. 

Zaheer turns back to the projector. The crew stands back, allowing a dark-haired woman with glasses to power it up.

Zaheer breathes steadily and carefully stretches his legs and rolls his shoulders.

Suddenly, the image of a moustached man in a smoking jacket flickers into life above the projector.

From the speakers mounted in the base of the projector unit, his voice booms out. "Zhu LI! Have you done the thing? Never mind! I can see people and hear obnoxious jazz! Hey! Alto sax! You're off time! Well, don't just stand around, people! Varrick is technically and legally here! Let's get this thing started!"

Zaheer allows himself the tiniest sliver of a smile. "Yes," he breathes. "Let's."

He gives a tiny nod to one of Zhu Li's technicians. She nods back.

A second later, all the lights go out.

Some of the guests shriek, others giggle.

But none of them yet know that their auction is over.

Zaheer turns and strides confidently towards the scent of Hiroshi Sato's cologne.

No one else knows it, but in the next few minutes, the ascendancy of the Red Lotus will begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading folks!
> 
> Gee, it sure feels like some kind of mid-season finale is right around the corner, huh?
> 
> I have a more than sneaking suspicion that it'll be two weeks again for the next part. 'Cause things are about to get interesting...


	10. The Lights Go Out Pt. 1

Su leads Korra past the weird projector thing to a door marked 'Staff Only.'

She holds the door for Korra.

Korra smiles, still marvelling that Opal's mother and one of Republic City's leading society figures is _the_ Suki Platinum. "Thanks so much for this, Su!"

Su smiles, but it's a tighter smile than she showed in front of Opal. "If there's a chance it could help bring down the scum who _dared_ lay a finger on Opal, I'm quite happy to oblige, Korra.

Korra swallows nervously and quickly slips past Su.

The room Korra enters is large and nondescript: white-painted drywall, trestle tables, stacks of chairs, someone's laptop, a binder full of papers, a fire exit in the far corner.

There's a metal case sitting on one of the tables.

Korra's skin tightens. Instinct responding to senses that stretch far beyond her own screams a warning she can't consciously comprehend, even as adrenaline starts to pour into her body.

Su says, "Well, here it is! Truth be told it isn't much to look at, but it's quite a...compelling piece. I have to admit I feel quite drawn to it myself. And it's quite ancient, I believe."

She unlocks the case and opens it to reveal a hunk of carved stone. It takes Korra a second to understand what she's seeing. "It's...a statue? It...kinda looks like a turtle. With a lion's head? Weird."

Without quite noticing when or how it happened, Korra finds herself standing over the lion-turtle statue. She raises her hand and...

Raava stirs inside her, radiating disquiet. Korra gasps and quickly steps back. "This is it. This is what they're after."

Su stares at her. "What...you're sure? Why this, though?"

Korra shakes her head, trying to think. "I...don't know. But my, uh...reporter's instinct is telling me: this is it. Who donated it? Because I'm thinking the better question than why they're going after this is...why _now_?"

Su raises her eyebrows. "Ah, it was donated by...Hiroshi Sato."

That's when the lights go out.

* * *

Asami lowers her voice, even as the bodyguards move away. Even though she wants to scream. " _Petty_ argument? I seem to remember you telling me I was wasting my life in journalism."

Hiroshi's face tightens, then sags. "Asami...you could have been _killed_. I-"

"I am doing something I believe in. I know the risks, but I also know the value of what I do."

Hiroshi takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes. "All I want is for you to be safe. Is that so terrible?"

Asami grits her teeth. "You think I'd be safer if I'd stayed in engineering?"

"I...didn't say that." He makes a show of polishing his lenses on a cloth he takes from one pocket. "But...perhaps you should consider taking some time away from the paper? Temporarily, of course!" He puts his glasses back on and meets her eye. "Asami. I'd...like to put our conflict behind us. I'd like for us to spend more time together."

Asami spots Opal and Bolin approaching, with their bodyguards trailing them. She can hear Varrick's voice blaring from a speaker to her left.

"Dad..." She hesitates, but leans in closer to him, ruthlessly overruling the parts of her mind that react to the scent of his aftershave, to the new lines and grey hairs she notices. "I was attacked by a criminal with a Future Industries X-5. One of _your_ weapons. How exactly did the Red Lotus get their hands on that?"

Hiroshi stares at her, face blank at first. But Asami thinks she's sees something, some flicker of a thought occur to him, just before the lights go out.

* * *

Opal politely doesn't punch Papa Sato's bodyguard in his smug face when he steps in front of her.

He says, "No closer."

Opal rolls her eyes. "We're friends of the family, you don't need to be dramatic." She winks at him. "Plus, we completely outnumber you, if it came to a fight."

Another bodyguard glances round, a compact man with a shaved head and a scarred eyebrow. He smiles at her.

Behind her, Mako groans. "Opal! The man's just doing his job."

Opal flashes the scarred bodyguard a quick smile and rounds on Mako. "And what are you doing, Mako? Hmm? Asking if Asami needed a date tonight? Is that out of a purely professional interest?"

Mako flushes and Kuvira, who Opal is watching out of the corner of her eye, stiffens and shoots a look at Mako.

Mako snaps, "That's none of your business, Opal! Asami and I-"

And suddenly she's clenching her free hand into a fist and her heart is pounding angrily. "You blew it! You haven't even apologised to her! You've barely _spoken_ to her since you left her! And suddenly you're asking her out?" 

Opal surges forward, stopped by Bolin's arm as he quickly steps between them.

Bolin says, "Opal, please don't beat up my bro-dyguard."

Mako snorts. "I'll be fine, bro, as long as I can see the attack coming this time!"

"That does it!" Opal kicks off one of her shoes and prepares to hurl it at his head. Just as she throws, the lights go out.

* * *

Korra sucks in a breath. "Su...I have a very bad feeling here."

"I need to get out there, Korra. It's probably just Varrick's foolishness. Zhu Li said she'd accounted for the drain on the local grid, but...Korra?"

"Yeah?"

"...I have a bad feeling, too."

Korra nods at the dim shape of Su's body, illumined by the fire exit sign. "Okay. Look..."

Aang appears beside Su, his ghostly form visible to Korra even in the dark. His face is twisted with worry. "Korra!"

Korra snorts. "Red Lotus? Yeah, actually ahead of you Aang."

"No!" He hesitates. "Well, okay, yes, that, too. There's no need to be sarcastic, though, Korra."

Korra rolls her eyes. "You had an urgent message, Aang?"

He winces. "Uh...don't leave Su alone with the statue. It could be...dangerous. For...reasons."

Korra blinks and Aang is gone.

With more than a hint of impatience, Su says, "You were saying, Korra?"

"Uh, right, yeah...you should get out there! Be the hostess, calm people down and organise and things! I'll..."

Korra suddenly remembers that she left her scarf in her jacket and that her jacket is a few floors below them. Besides, she's wearing an evening dress and heels. She can't be the Blue Spirit dressed like this.

"You should come with me, Korra," Su says from somewhere nearer the door to the main room.

A terrible idea hits Korra, forcing her to turn a groan into a cough. "Uh, haha! Yeah, no, I think I shouldn't? Because...I'm going to go get help from downstairs? Down the fire stairs? Yeah, that!"

"Alright...that's not a bad idea."

Korra winces. It isn't, but it's also not what she's going to do. She kicks off her heels. "Good luck, Su!"

"You, too, Korra"

Su opens the door to the main hall and slips through.

Korra closes and relocks the case. Then she tears her dress off and hides it behind the chairs. "It's dark. No one's gonna see. This is totally the right thing to do and I'm not an idiot who is about to embarrass herself so badly in front of so many people she'll need to move afterwards. To...another country. Or maybe planet."

Aang appears in the corner of her eye, one hand over his eyes. "Korra..."

"Exactly what is going on, Aang? I've just sent Su out into danger for... _reasons_? What reasons?"

Aang sighs. "That statue isn't just a statue."

Korra throws up her hands. "Amazing insight, ghost monk! It feels like...like when people say they can feel a storm coming because their knees ache? My whole body is an aching knee right now!"

"Korra, I'm...not sure what it is. But there's a way to find out. One of our past lives must know. _Raava_ must know. If you meditate-"

Korra takes a deep breath. "Aang. There's no time. I have to get out there. Something bad is coming. And...I'm still in my underwear."

"Alright. Go get the bad guys. But be careful, Korra."

"Way too late for that advice," Korra mutters. She hesitates. "But thanks, ghost monk."

She takes a deep breath and eases open the door. She goes into hall. She makes her way quickly to one of the display cases, grazing the wall with her fingertips to keep on the right track.

* * *

Asami's mouth dries out when the lights go. The band come to a halt with a confused array of missed notes, a struck cymbal vibrating into a sudden hush. Voices begin to babble around her.

Hiroshi sighs. "Varrick. Of course his clowning would disrupt the evening."

Asami tugs out her phone. She switches on the flashlight, aiming it at the floor. "Dad...we need to get somewhere safe. Now. This is an attack."

"What? Asami, we're surrounded by security professionals. We are safe."

A calm man's voice says, "Mr Sato, speaking as one of _your_ security professionals, I agree with your daughter."

Asami shines her light on him. He's below average height, in his early forties, broad shouldered and...dangerous. He has a scar running through one eyebrow, callused knuckles, and the misshapen ears of a serious grappler.

His eyes are closed. Calmly he says, "Ms Sato? If you wouldn't mind shining your light away from my eyes?"

Asami points her light at the floor again. "Sorry, Mr...?"

"Call me Zaheer. And there's no need to apologise. I commend your caution."

Other lights begin to appear throughout the hall as more people use their phones to light the hall.

Asami looks at Hiroshi. "Dad...please."

Hiroshi sighs. "Very well. I'd be foolish not to listen to my bodyguard." He steps closer to Asami. "And more foolish still not to listen to my daughter."

Asami nods slowly.

Suddenly, she hears someone stumbling nearby. Opal limps into the edge of Asami's light. "Wow, that was an unlucky moment to throw my shoe at someone."

"Why...are you throwing shoes?"

Asami moves to support her, but Zaheer gets there first.

* * *

"Just one shoe," Opal says defensively. She blinks when a callused hand supports gently but firmly grasps her upper arm. "Uh...who are you?"

"Zaheer. Part of Mr Sato's security detail."

"Okay, thanks, but-"

Zaheer says, "This way, please. There's a side room we can secure. Mr Li?"

The smug bodyguard says, "I've got Hiroshi. Let's go."

Opal finds herself gently but firmly being guided along by Zaheer. "Uh, can I at least take off my other shoe?"

"It'll only be a minute." Asami appears by her side, shining a light ahead of them. "Again...why are you throwing shoes?"

Opal huffs. " _One_ shoe! And I had my reasons!"

"Where's Bolin?"

"Looking for my shoe."

"Kuvira? Mako?"

"Mako's with Bolin. Kuvira...uh..."

Kuvira is suddenly behind her. "Here, Ms Beifong. I've got her from here...Zaheer, was it?"

Over the rising tide of increasingly angry questions Opal can hear all around them, Suyin shouts, "Everyone! Please stay calm! I'm sure this is just a minor glitch!"

Asami says, "Kuvira...grab Mako and Bolin. Please. I think there's going to be trouble."

Kuvira hesitates.

Zaheer doesn't stop moving, though, so Opal looks back, spying Kuvira's tall frame only dimly. The hall is near black, punctured by threads of cell phone light. "Kuvira, please? I've got Asami and Zaheer, here. I'll be fine for a few minutes."

Kuvira vanishes into the darkness.

Opal bites her lip and keeps hobbling. "Okay, seriously, stop for one second while I-"

Zaheer yells, "Gun!"

Opal looks round wildly. She doesn't see anything. Except, that is, the bobbing points of light around them still for a second, then everything is a whirl of frenzied agitation.

* * *

Korra stays low, crosses into the centre of the hall and finds the display case with Kyoshi's old robe. She hesitates. "This is technically not even stealing. Right...?"

A man's voice yells, "Gun!"

Korra lunges upright and drives her elbow into the glass.

* * *

Someone screams. There's the sound of breaking glass and tramping feet. More voices are raised in anger and alarm, drowning Suyin's attempts to calm them.

There's the sound of a gunshot.

Opal gasps. "No! How...?"

Zaheer pushes a door open and shoves Opal through. She stumbles and crashes to the floor. As she struggles to find her feet, she hears the sounds of commotion and yelling outside, then the door slams behind her.

* * *

Asami crouches. Her first instinct on the hearing the gunshot is to check on Opal, but she doesn't listen to it. She checks on her father, instead.

Mr Li shoves Hiroshi down and squats over him, his own gun drawn, looking around for threats.

Asami keeps her light away from them and looks for Opal.

She's in time to Zaheer shove her through a door marked 'Staff Only.'

Asami hisses, "Mr Li! Over here!"

She starts towards Zaheer, who glances back at her. He shifts stance and...looks past her, eyes widening.

"What's happening? We have to secure my father and Opal. Then I've got to find Ko...uh, someone else."

Asami trails off when she realises that the quality of the darkness has changed again. Panicking people have sought cover, or the exit, or are hugging the walls. But a new light has bloomed in the middle of the hall, a...blue glow.

Asami gasps. "The Blue Spirit!"

Zaheer says, "So it would seem." He raises his voice. "The vigilante is attacking us!"

Asami rounds on him. "What? No! She isn't-"

Zaheer's expression never changes. He moves without warning, one moment still, the next driving a kick into Asami's stomach. He follows up with a blow to her neck and everything goes black for Asami.

* * *

Korra winces. She whispers, "Sorry, Kyoshi," and tears a strip from the bottom of the old silk robe she stole from the display case. She ties it around the lower half of her face.

Then she leaps, and the air lifts her up. She settles soundlessly on the top of the display case and starts looking for whoever fired that shot.

"Emergency lights should have kicked in. This is deliberate, and...Varrick's projector thingy! Gotta be something to do with that!"

She focuses on the area where she saw the projector. There! Someone lurking behind it!

Korra prepares to move. She calls for Raava's aid, and prepares to summon the wind.

Kyoshi appears beside her, frowning. "Korra-"

"I said sorry about the robe, and I'm busy!"

Kyoshi snaps, "You are elevated, illuminated in the dark, and surrounded by frightened people with guns."

Korra blinks. "Crap!"

A voice yells, "The vigilante is attacking us!"

No. Not _a_ voice. A man's voice. The same man who yelled about seeing a gun. Unless he didn't _see_ a gun...

"He was signalling a confederate to fire one! _Crap_!"

Korra releases her grip on the wind, extinguishing Raava's light. Something flashes to her right, and a bullet thumps into the case beneath her. Korra rolls off the top of the case. 

More voices are raised, but even through the sudden cacophony, Korra can hear the sound of guns being cocked, of safeties being disengaged.

Lin Beifong yells. "Who's firing? Cease fire! Hold your fire!"

"Crap, crap, crap!"

Kyoshi appears beside her. "You are being hunted. Move."

"Right, yeah, sure! I just have to stop at least two bad guys while dodging all the good guys who think _I'm_ the bad guy...while not using superpowers! Wonderful!"

Kyoshi rolls her eyes. "Ridiculous! You rely on Raava's assistance too much."

Korra rolls away from the case and scrambles to her right, under a catering table. "Not ridiculous! I can barely do anything unless I'm glowing! Except crush my alarm clock, apparently. I can do that without Raava, but that's almost all! They're her powers, Kyoshi! I just carry them around!"

"Have you heard _nothing_ I've told you?" Kyoshi scoffs. "Very well. I suggest you think of something else, then. Swiftly."

She vanishes.

Korra sighs. "Great."

Somewhere near the display case she just abandoned, she hears Mako yell, "Blue Spirit! This is the RCPD! You're under arrest!"

Korra closes her eyes. "Red Lotus. Chaos. Guns. Creepy statue. Which is completely unguarded...crap! _Do_ something, Korra. Go!"

She opens her eyes, and slips out the far side of the table.

* * *

Opal kicks off her shoe and slowly gets to her feet, wincing when she puts weight on her left. She limps to the door to the hall, only for it to be thrown open.

Asami tumbles into her, taking them both to the floor.

Opal gasps. "Asami? Asami! Hey, hey, what's wrong?"

Asami doesn't respond. Opal can feel the rise and fall of her chest, but she's out cold.

Zaheer enters the room. Opal's eyes have adjusted enough to the dim light for her to recognise Mr Li and Hiroshi following him.

Zaheer says, "The vigilante attacked her."

Opal struggles into a sitting position, propping Asami's head on her lap. "I don't believe that! She wouldn't-"

Hiroshi squats down beside Asami, brushing her hair from her face, touching her cheek. "Asami? Asami, can you hear me?"

Opal's heart is pounding and she has to wipe sweat from her brow. "She's tough as anything, Papa Sato. She's going to be fine!"

Hiroshi takes a deep breath. "Yes. Yes, she will. Mr Li? Zaheer? Please do everything you can to ensure that the situation outside is resolved as swiftly as possible. Whatever it takes." He stares up at them, jaw tight. "You'll have my full support, gentlemen."

Opal gapes at him. "You can't mean...I'm sure the Blue Spirit didn't-"

"Asami needs an ambulance. Medical attention that she won't get while that lunatic is out there."

Opal shakes her head. "There's a fire exit! We could move her-"

Hiroshi snarls, "Enough! I won't risk her like that!"

Zaheer and Li exchange a look. Li says, "You're new to my outfit, but you came highly recommended. If you're uncomfortable with this..."

"Not at all, Mr Li," Zaheer says, calmly. He draws his gun. "I've got your back."

Zaheer takes up position by the door. Li nods at him.

When Zaheer yanks the door open, Li quickly dives through into the hall.

Zaheer calmly closes the door and wedges a chair beneath the handle.

He turns, aiming the gun at Hiroshi. "Mr Sato. If you'd be so kind as to fetch the metal case containing your donation to the auction and open it please?"

Hiroshi's jaw drops. "You're... _robbing_ me?"

Opal suddenly grows cold. "No...he's doing more than that. He's Red Lotus!"

Zaheer smiles. "Correct, Ms Beifong. Now..." He aims the gun at Asami's head. "I'd advise you to move quickly, Mr Sato. I'm indifferent to the survival of your daughter. You clearly are not. The case, please."

* * *

Korra ducks behind a display case a split second before a beam of light punches through the patch of darkness she was just crouched in.

Korra waits a beat, then eases herself into the open. She runs in a low crouch, heading for the next display case. She can hear footsteps near her, low voices as cops and bodyguards try to coordinate their hunt for her.

Korra's bare feet make almost no sound. Kyoshi's robe isn't a great fit -- Korra's not quite as tall as Kyoshi was -- but it's surprisingly easy to move in and it makes barely a rustle.

Maybe that's why she spots the Red Lotus guy before he sees her coming.

His mistake is not moving. Korra can tell from the different points of light bobbing around the hall where the searchers are. But this guy is in his own little patch of shadow behind a table, right around where the gunshot came from. This guy has a gun.

And there's a faint scent in the air, one that Korra's become familiar with: the smell of spent gunpowder.

He turns at the last second as she closes on him. He gasps, "Who...? Oh, no!"

Korra dives at him, forcing his gun hand down with one hand and jamming her other arm into his throat, forcing him against the wall.

He gasps, thrashes, and tries to throw her off. 

Korra bears down harder. "You're Red Lotus. How many of you are there?"

She eases up on his throat. He chokes out a single word. "Cop!"

Korra frowns, quickly drops her hand to his belt and pats around. Her fingers find a badge. She winces, her grip slackening as uncertainty leeches strength from her muscles.

He grins and lunges at her, trying for a headbutt. Korra grabs his collar, jerks back, plants a foot in his chest and levers him up and over her head as she rolls onto her back.

He sails through the air and hits the floor with a loud thud.

A chorus of voices starts asking questions. Beams of light start to converge on the table.

Korra rolls over and runs, keeping low, ducking behind cover, moving away from the voices, towards the projector.

That man might have been RCPD, but he was also the gunman. And he wasn't the one who shouted earlier. Which means that there are two more Red Lotus here, at least.

A bobbing light turns her way.

She lowers herself to the floor and holds her breath.

It's a bit like playing hide and seek.

Only she isn't a kid, and it's very dark, and the people hunting her have guns and she's not just hiding, she's also hunting a threat that's the hiding in plain sight and it's almost nothing like hide and seek at all.

A light flashes above her, over her, past her. A booted foot comes down beside her left hand. A voice says, "Clear! Think she got past us, Kuvira?"

 _Mako_!

Kuvira whispers, "I think I've left Opal alone for too long. I don't like any of this, Mako."

"I need you, Kuvira! Just a couple more minutes!"

Korra's lungs are starting to burn.

Bitterly, Kuvira says, "Now you need me? I thought you'd decided it was Asami you needed?"

Korra has to fight not to gasp.

"Can we talk about this...us...later, maybe?"

Korra can see spots in front of her eyes.

"There's still an us?" Kuvira's quiet for a second. Her voice comes from further away. "Two more minutes."

Mako sighs. "Thanks."

His boot finally moves away.

Korra holds on as long as she can before she gasps and sucks in a ragged breath. As soon as she's able to, she hauls herself upright and rushes to the next case.

Korra takes a couple of seconds to breathe, trying to calm her heart, trying to force herself to move slowly, smoothly, when she pokes her head around the edge of the case.

Clear space between her and the projector.

Korra takes another breath and eases out of cover, into the fragile protection of the darkness.

Korra reaches the projector in a soundless rush.

There's someone crouched behind it. A woman, illuminated by the screen of some device she's clutching in one hand. There's something on the display, something that looks like a schematic of the museum. She has a screwdriver in the other hand, held like a knife.

Every instinct Korra has screams that this woman is Red Lotus.

Korra wants to grin, in response to the rush of savage satisfaction she feels at finding her prey. But she doesn't, she just reaches round the base of the projector and clamps a hand over the woman's mouth, pulling her head against the side of the projector.

"Gotcha," Korra breathes. 

The woman squirms in her grasp, trying to twist around so she can stab at Korra with her screwdriver.

Korra grabs her wrist and squeezes, forcing the other woman's fingers open.

Her screwdriver hits the floor with a clatter.

Korra quietly growls, "You're going to turn the lights back on or I'm going to put yours out!"

The Red Lotus woman bites Korra's hand. Korra snatches her hand away. She scrambles around the projector, throwing herself on top of the woman as she draws breath to scream. 

Korra knocks her over, rears up and slams a fist into her jaw. The woman slumps.

"Crap!"

Light splashes over her. Korra spins and sees Mako levelling a taser at her chest.

Without further warning, he fires.

* * *

Opal cradles Asami's head, nervously stroking her hair, praying that something miraculous will happen and she'll wake up.

Her ankle throbs. Zaheer stays by the door.

Hiroshi doesn't hesitate for long. He slowly gets up. "If it's a question of money..."

Zaheer smiles coldly. "No. There's only one way to buy your daughter's life. The case."

While Hiroshi fetches it, Opal tries to think of something, anything she can do. She says, "This isn't going to work out, you know."

Zaheer says nothing.

"My ankle's sprained. You did that, jerk! And now you're going to have to carry me out of here. Past all of the security. That's a terrible plan. You'd be better off giving yourself up."

Zaheer smiles. At least, his lips move. Nothing changes in the black pits of his eyes. "I'm not here to kidnap you, Ms Beifong. The time for that is over."

It doesn't reassure her. "You went to a lot of effort this morning...you're saying you don't want me anymore? That could hurt a girl's feelings."

Hiroshi steps up beside her, the case in his hand.

Zaheer says, "Open it on the floor in front of you."

Hiroshi hesitates, but slowly kneels and places the case on the ground. He punches a code into the case, unlocking it, and flips it open.

The case contains an incredibly ugly statue of a weird turtle thing. Opal stares at it. She...can't quite seem to stop stating at it. There's...something about it. Something that...calls to her.

Hiroshi says, "Now...please. Let me fetch assistance for-"

Zaheer crosses the space between them in the blink of an eye and whips his pistol across Hiroshi's jaw. Hiroshi cries out, dropping onto his hands and knees.

Calmly, Zaheer grabs the lapel of his jacket and tugs it up around his neck. He wraps his arms around Hiroshi in a choke hold, but he keeps the gun pointed at Asami.

He says, "You never mattered, Ms Beifong. Only your ancestry matters. You were simply the easiest available target. And the one most likely to sow confusion in the event of our failure."

Opal stares at Hiroshi's reddening face. "You're killing him! Stop!"

"He doesn't need to die. No one does. But you have to do something for me, Opal."

"What? I don't understand any of this, what could you possibly want from me?"

Calmly, Zaheer says, "I want you to unlock the Lion-Turtle your ancestor carved and release the Essence of Air."

Opal's jaw drops. "You want me to do _what_?"

* * *

Korra flinches as electricity crackles and...doesn't affect her.

She looks down at the prongs of the taser dart. They're sunk into, but didn't quite punch through the quilted chest piece of Kyoshi's robe.

"Score one for the centuries old battle armour!"

Korra yanks off the chest piece, tossing it aside.

Mako detaches the wires from the taser and rushes her.

Korra groans. "I don't want to fight you!"

"Then surrender!"

Mako leaps at her. Korra takes two quick steps back, waits for Mako to land, then lunges forward. She snaps out a low kick, hitting his right knee as he tries to push off of that leg. 

He sways, jabbing wildly with the taser. Korra sways back, out of the way, then grabs his wrist before he can retract his arm. She elbows him in the gut. He grunts, rolling with it, but while his focus is off, she strips the taser from his grasp, kicking it away into the shadows.

Korra backs up a step, raising her hands. "I'm really not the problem here! That woman-"

A gun is pressed to the back of her neck. Kuvira says, "Not anymore. On your knees, hands on your head."

Korra hears the sound of metal on cloth and a click. Handcuffs. Kuvira only has one hand on her gun. Korra ducks her shoulder and takes another quick step back. She jerks her head to the side, away from the gun. She reaches up with both hands, grabbing Kuvira's gun arm with one, the slide of her gun with the other.

Korra spins, pushing Kuvira's arm out wide and yanking her gun in the other direction, out of her grasp. Korra backs up quickly, ejecting the clip and the round in the chamber. "Seriously, that woman-"

Mako attacks her side on, throwing a kick at her stomach. Korra yelps, dropping both arms to block and hopping back a step and dropping the gun.

Mako drops into a stance on her right. Kuvira moves up on her left.

Korra groans. "She's-"

Mako circles to her right, jabbing at her head.

Korra ducks and backs up, but she has to turn slightly to keep her eye on Mako.

As soon as she does, Kuvira explodes into motion, throwing a series of brutal punches at Korra's body.

Korra manages to deflect most of them, but she has to turn to face Kuvira, and Mako presses her when she does.

Korra stops a kick from Mako with her shin, ducks one punch from Kuvira but takes a glancing blow to her side in the process, jerks away from another kick from Mako, and stumbles on the hem of Kyoshi's robe.

She drops to one knee, which hurts, but not as much as Kuvira's elbow would have, if her head had still been in its way.

Korra blurts, "Red Lotus!"

Mako kicks her in the chest before she gets a chance to celebrate getting the words out.

Korra falls back, rolls, and comes up in a crouch. She cracks her neck. "Okay, fine! We're doing this."

Mako crowds her, throwing another kick, while Kuvira begins to circle her.

Korra hops back, narrowly avoiding the kick. "So you two dating, or what?"

Kuvira barely flickers, but for just a fraction of a second, she glances at Mako.

Mako freezes, flicking a glance at her.

Korra lunges at Mako, pushing off her back leg, driving all her weight forward, extending her arm like she's holding a sword, and driving the heel of her hand into his solar plexus. 

Mako gasps out all his air, chokes trying to breathe in, staggers back, and drops onto one knee.

Kuvira darts at Korra, who barely has time to recover her balance before she's having to deal with the taller woman's assault.

Korra stops trying to dodge and gets inside Kuvira's reach. She stamps and sweeps at Kuvira's feet, denying her a stable stance, twists or uses her arms to deflect what blows Kuvira does manage to swing. 

Kuvira snarls in frustration, retreating as she tries to open up enough space to attack.

"I'll take that as an 'or what,' then!" Korra grins behind her cloth mask. 

Kuvira stumbles against the base of the projector, throwing out an arm for balance. Korra grabs her arm, kicks her legs out from under and forces her onto the ground, locking her arm out behind her.

And leaving her face to face with the unconscious technician. Korra growls, "She. Is. Red. Lotus. She has at least one accomplice! Who I'm going after."

Korra lets Kuvira go and backs away. A fist swings at her face, only to stop dead a few inches away.

Mako is the fist swinger. He doesn't connect because Bolin's gripping his wrist.

Bolin says, "Bro! I can't find Opal! And the Blue Spirit's saved her twice. And me once! Maybe try trusting her?"

Mako hesitates. "Kuvira? You okay?"

" _Yes_ ," Kuvira snaps.

Suddenly a light shines on Korra. Then another. And another.

Korra groans and raises her hands as half a dozen RCPD officers led by Captain Beifong surround her with their guns ready.

Lin strides towards Korra with a pair of cuffs in her hand. "Blue Spirit. So nice to meet you at last. Kuvira. Search the tech."

"Already on it."

Korra very carefully does nothing as Lin closes in. There are too many guns on her, and too many innocent people scattered around for Korra to risk a shot going off.

Lin Beifong positions herself in front of Korra. "Wrists. Then you're going to tell me everything you know about the Red Lotus."

Korra opens her mouth, but before she can say anything, Raava rises up inside her in warning.

It isn't something she can define, but Korra knows that a crisis has been reached, that the world is on the edge of a terrible brink.

There's a strange energy coming from the room with the statue. There's a danger there that Korra doesn't fully understand yet, but she knows this much: she's better equipped to handle it than the RCPD.

Lin wrinkles her brow. "Did...anyone hear that?"

Korra closes her eyes. "Sorry about this."

When she opens them again, light blazes from them. She sweeps her hands back, and then brings them together in a loud clap.

A gale springs to life around her, hurling Lin, Mako, Bolin and all the nearby RCPD officers aside.

Korra's moving before the first of them hits the ground, sprinting towards the danger, hoping she's not too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading folks!
> 
> Sorry this is a wee bit late! I'll try to be a bit more punctual with the next part, which will be coming your way a week on Friday.


	11. The Lights Go Out Pt. 2

Opal wants to hit someone. Specifically, she wants to hit Zaheer. Very hard. But Zaheer has Hiroshi in his grasp, and Asami under his gun. Any move Opal makes that doesn't save both of them will probably kill at least one of them. She can't imagine a world where that happens.

Opal gestures at the statue in the case. "I...look, I'll cooperate. But...I really don't know what you want me to do!"

Zaheer's expression doesn't change. He doesn't raise his voice. "I told you. Open the statue." He pauses. "It's calling to you, isn't it? Listen to it. Listen to your instincts."

Opal stares at him. He stares back, calm and frighteningly sane. She looks at the statue. It's a lump of...not stone, she thinks, but clay. It's not crude, either, but _simple_. It might not look like anything on Earth, but it's a distinct piece of work. It's not beautiful, but it is striking. And there is something about it that calls to her. Zaheer isn't wrong about that.

Opal swallows. "I...can I try something? I have an idea, but I'll need to move."

Zaheer's expression doesn't change. "Do what you must. Remember who will suffer for your disobedience."

Opal decides to listen to her instincts. She gently moves Asami's head to the floor. She crawls around Asami to get to the case, hoping that Zaheer will turn the gun on her.

He doesn't.

Opal takes a breath and reaches for the statue. Something seems to sigh as her fingers near it, as if releasing a breath of anticipation. Opal's arms erupt in gooseflesh, making her shiver. Her hands close over the ancient clay. It's cool to the touch, but something boils inside it. Something powerful. Something old.

"You feel it, don't you? Millennia ago, an ancestor of yours made this. It serves as a lock in the cage your...Blue Spirit built for us all. You are a key, Ms Beifong. Open the lock. Begin the restoration of what should always have been ours."

She can sense it. What he says doesn't make any rational sense, but there are older things than reason. A hurricane rages beneath the clay in her hands. A storm eager to be released, eager to shape and be shaped. The clay of the statue is at once fragile and immutable. The power that boils inside it is wholly encompassed by this thin shell, but in her hands she feels the potential for...release. It's frightening, how much sense it makes to her subconscious.

"Freedom," Opal whispers. "It...it wants freedom." But as strange as it is, it's not the most important thing. Opal takes a deep breath. "So do I. You said follow my instincts?"

Maybe Zaheer can feel it, too. He leans forward, a hint of excitement in the black pits of his eyes. "Yes. Follow the call of your blood."

"Okay. I know what my Beifong blood is telling me to do." Opal gently lifts the statue from the protective padding inside the case. It's heavier than it looks, and much, much heavier to her senses than it is to her muscles. She cradles the statue to her chest. She takes another breath, steadying herself. Then she hurls the lion-turtle as hard as she can at Zaheer's face.

* * *

Korra's almost at the door when the bullets start flying. At first, she thinks the RCPD have recovered already, but the muzzle flash is coming from in _front_ of her. Korra hurls herself forward, rolls, and comes up facing a row of folding chairs. A lean man in a dark suit is crouched behind a chair. Korra thinks she saw him earlier; he's some kind of bodyguard. More importantly, he's lining up his next shot.

" _I really don't have time for this,_ " Korra snarls.

She stamps her foot, sending a shockwave rippling through the floor to the gunman. He's jolted up out of cover, and he cries out, almost dropping his weapon. Korra throws out her arm, and a blast of wind...tears out of her hand like a fury, slams into him, and the chairs around him, and three rows of chairs behind him, and the podium on the stage, and hurls all of them across the room, into the far wall.

Korra blinks. " _Uh...what?_ "

Aang appears beside her. He surveys the groaning bodyguard under a tangled heap of chairs. "Okay, so...did you mean that?"

" _No! Well, kinda, but...not that much! I'm not sure how I did that!_ "

Aang sighs. "I think I have an idea of what's happening. And you need to hurry-"

There's a sound that isn't quite a sound. There's a feeling that registers in Korra's mind, bypassing her physical senses. There's a sense of...difference in the air. There's a sense of difference _to_ the air.

Korra charges into the door, barely slowing when she smashes it off its hinges.

* * *

The statue smashes into Zaheer's temple, bounces off and shatters on the floor. Zaheer reels back, his grip on Hiroshi loosening, the barrel of his gun dropping to point at the floor.

Opal's still on her knees and her ankle isn't the best, so she keeps following her instincts and grabs the metal case. She snaps it shut and swings it two-handed at Zaheer.

He shoves Hiroshi between them, forcing Opal to check her strike. He rolls back, coming up in a crouch, pistol aimed at Opal's heart. "Ms Beifong..." He freezes, staring at the shards of clay on the floor. "Oh."

Opal gasps when she feels it; when whatever it is that the statue contained pours out into the room, invisible and undeniable. Fingers of air walk across her bare skin, cold but playful. Hair stands up on her body as something charges the air around them. Opal shudders as something cold slithers into her lungs.

Zaheer shivers. "At last. Thank you, Opal." 

His finger tightens on the trigger. Opal raises the case to her chest, hoping it's bullet proof. Before she has to find out, the door bursts open and blue light fills the room.

* * *

Korra reaches out with the air in the room, lifting the door up towards the ceiling. She takes in the tableau in the room, two people down, Opal in front of her, another suited man with a gun threatening her, a chair that was blocking the door in front of her feet.

Korra yells, " _Opal! Move!_ " She kicks the chair aside, whips out her hands and changes the flow of air, sending out a gust that directs the broken door at the gunman.

He dives under the door, which crashes into the far wall, rolls, and rises smoothly to his feet, gun tracking towards Korra.

Less gracefully, Opal scampers out of the line of fire. Which is when Korra sees _who_ is on the floor. Asami and her father, Hiroshi Sato. And beside them, pieces of a broken statue. And something else is in the room. It's something old, something immense, something that Raava recognises. It flees, rushing through the air out into the world, and Korra realises somehow that this presence _is_ the air. Or, closer to the truth, the... _idea_ of air.

The guy with the gun is Red Lotus. And he's succeeded in doing what he came here to do, in letting the thing in the statue loose. Korra's failed. But she can make sure this guy doesn't get away. She can maybe start to get some answers. Korra reaches out and enables the safety of his gun. She rushes to close the distance between them while he calmly aims and begins to squeeze the trigger, half a second before she's on him.

It's not a big room. The gun is deafening when it fires.

Korra slams into the gunman, grabbing the slide of his weapon and twisting it around on him, forcing him to either let go or get his trigger finger broken. He lets go, dancing back a few steps, dropping into a ready stance. He's calm, almost smiling.

Korra tosses the gun behind her and takes a step towards him. He raises his hand and the air rushes out to wrap around Korra's legs, making her stumble. Her leg gives out, dropping her to her hands and knees. Korra tries to lever herself upright, but there's no strength in her limbs Only a cold feeling, creeping through her body, swallowing her mind. 

Korra gasps, shaking her head as her vision blurs. "What...? You...superpowered me. But why am I..." She touches her chest, near her ribs, and finds the bloody spot where his bullet tore through her chest. "Oh...you shot me."

As her vision dims, Korra hears the man who shot her walk towards her.

That's when Raava's light goes out.

* * *

Zaheer stares at Raava's wounded puppet, pursing his lips. "Not a bad trick, activating the safety. But predictable, and very risky. For example, my pistol's safety is in the trigger action. It's not a separate manual switch. So it didn't buy you anything other than a false sense of security." He purses his lips. "And some much deserved pain."

He takes two steps closer, kicking the puppet's supporting arm aside, dropping her face first to the floor. He crouches beside her, grabs a fistful of hair, and hauls the woman's head up. He stares into her glazed blue eyes. He shakes her head roughly, until she blinks and tries to focus on him.

"First time being shot, I see. It is an experience, isn't it? It shouldn't prove lethal, though you will need medical attention." He frowns at the blood already pooling on the carpet. "Soon. Can't have your puppet bleeding out just yet, Raava. Though your standards are slipping. This one is...disappointing. Now. Let's see what face you're wearing these days."

He grips the edge of the cloth she's wearing around her face.

"Zaheer!" Opal Beifong screams. "Leave her alone!"

She's pointing his own gun at him. Beyond her, out in the main hall, he can hear raised voices and see lights drawing closer. He doesn't have much time.

Zaheer drops the woman's head. He rises out of the crouch, arms moving in long practiced forms. He commands the air to move, using the technique he's pieced together from dozens of sources unearthed over decades of searching. And this time, when he commands, the air obeys. It lashes at Opal, hurling her aside, stripping the gun from her hands and sending both tumbling to the floor.

Zaheer smiles. "It begins."

He takes a step towards his pistol, but before he can reach it, a leg flashes at his ankles, forcing him to hop back.

"Wrong." Asami Sato climbs to her feet, glaring at him through the darkness. "For you, it's over."

* * *

Asami isn't sure what's happening. She was woken by a gunshot. She's groggy, her neck hurts, and she's shaking. She's in no condition to fight. She meets Zaheer's empty eyes and advances on him anyway.

She's in no mood to let anyone else she cares about get hurt.

Zaheer sighs. "Ms Sato. I hate to disappoint you, but I have other places to be. Another time."

He's still a few feet away, but he punches the air in front of him. Asami gasps when the air punches _her_ in the chest. Asami staggers back, dropping to her knees. Zaheer runs for the fire exit. He's through the door before Asami's back on her feet.

"Zaheer has powers..." Asami decides she doesn't have time to process what's just happened. "Dad!"

She kneels beside Hiroshi, checking for a pulse in his neck. It's strong and steady, as is his breathing. Asami sighs in relief. She looks around and finds Opal crouched over someone else.

Asami joins her. "Are you okay?"

Opal looks at her, tears in her eyes. "I think the Blue Spirit's dying. I can't tell if she's breathing!"

Asami looks at the robed figure lying face down on the floor. She looks too small to be the woman Asami met in the alley this morning. Asami reaches down and touches something warm and sticky.

Blood.

Asami's heart ups its tempo, maybe in sympathy. Fear raises a clamour in her mind, trying to drown out rational thought. Asami grits her teeth and forces herself to think. "Opal. Put pressure here, on the exit wound. Now...help me turn her onto her back."

As gently as they can, they turn her over. Opal presses her free hand to the entry wound in the Blue Spirit's side. Asami hesitates. She leans over, placing her ear over the other woman's mouth, and holds her breath. She waits, hoping, for much too long.

Opal stares at her. "Is she...?"

Asami shakes her head. "She's not breathing. Keep the pressure on. I'll...try CPR. I did a course." Asami swallows. "Once..."

A light washes over them, and the room begins to fill with people, questions, noise. A hand touches Asami's shoulder.

Mako says, "Asami, are you...are all of you okay?"

Asami looks at Opal.

Opal nods. "You've got this, Asami." She glares at the officers beginning to surround them and yells, "HEY! Wounded woman here! Give us space. Get medical help. The real bad guy went through the fire escape. Get him, too. Any other questions? Save 'em 'til later!"

Asami takes a deep breath and places her hands over the Blue Spirit's stalled heart. She presses down, hard.

* * *

Korra wakes in a place that she knows isn't a place in a darkness that she knows isn't precisely caused by an absence of light. She's standing upright, alone, unhurt, and...she runs her hands over her bare skin. "I'm naked. Great. Wonderful! So...nightmare?"

But she knows that this isn't a nightmare. She knows one other thing, too. Korra sighs. "You're behind me, aren't you?"

She turns, or maybe the darkness shifts to accommodate her change in focus. A soft light glows in the darkness, resolving into the shape of Aang. He's holding a hand over his eyes.

Korra almost smiles. "Hey, ghost monk. I guess I messed up again, huh?"

A point of light forms behind Aang's shoulder. He doesn't respond.

"So...why am I naked? And where..." Korra trails off, because she knows where she is. "Oh."

Softly, Aang says, "Yes, Korra. We're in a visual metaphor of your...s-word."

"My...s-word." Korra frowns at the darkness around her. "Kinda...uh, empty, huh?"

Aang smiles. "I didn't say it was a _good_ metaphor, Korra. But, circumstances being what they are..."

Behind Aang, the light spreads. It grows larger, or perhaps looms closer.

"Is that...Raava?"

"No. It's the past. Korra...this place is timeless, but you aren't. You can't stay here for longer than the space between two heartbeats."

"I...don't understand. Maybe because that makes no sense at all? Ugh, why does mystical crap have to be so...mystical?" Korra watches the light. What moments ago was a single mote is now the size of a house, and getting bigger. She looks at Aang. "Haven't I been here longer than a heartbeat by now?"

"It's the space between _two_ heartbeats, Korra," Aang explains helpfully. "And, well, I've got some good news on that front. In the mortal world, your heart's stopped beating! So we should have a while."

Korra considers her response to that information carefully. "THAT IS NOT GOOD NEWS, AANG!"

Aang rocks back on his heels, wincing. "Ouch. Um. Careful, please? I'm just the memory of a dead monk. In your soul, I'm, uh, fragile. And you're not...dead. We're just...taking advantage of an otherwise unfortunate situation."

Korra sucks in another breath, trying to stem the flow of fear that threatens to consume her. She abruptly realises that she isn't breathing here at all, and that acting like she needs to is as pointless as being naked is. Korra touches her stomach, and this time she touches her ratty old hoodie.

"Okay, good. Not naked. Also, this thing is gross. The first thing I'm going to do after everything else is get a new costume. But first, I guess I need to do everything else. But, uh, maybe that's second, because actual first...what's happening, Aang?"

Aang lowers his hand from his eyes. Behind him, a wall of light stretches as far as Korra can perceive. Aang says, "Change. There's a new airbender in the world. And there will be more. The world isn't going to be the same after this."

Out of the wall of light, a figure emerges. Kyoshi. Korra blinks, and the wall of light blurs and breaks up into...beings of light. People. People of all ages, dressed in clothes from all over the world, through ages and eras unimaginable. They all stare at Korra.

Korra gasps. "Oh...that's a lot of ghosts. You...you're all..."

Aang says, "Your past lives, yes."

Kyoshi inclines her head. "Korra. Do you understand the nature of this darkness?"

And just like that, she's being called on to answer in front of the whole class. And this class numbers in the hundreds. And they're _all watching her_.

"Uh..." Korra stuffs her shaking hands into her hoodie's pocket. She thinks furiously. "This is my...soul. If it's dark...I can't feel Raava. Is Raava...hurt?"

Aang shakes his head. "Bullets can't hurt Raava. But when she manifests her light through you...you're stronger, Korra. But you're vulnerable, too. You can die a death of the body, and of the soul. If that happens, the line of our reincarnation will be broken and all of us will be forgotten. And that would be...a loss the world should not endure."

Korra grabs a double handful of her hair. "So, no pressure! I just need to stop a guy who has superpowers while not using Ravaa's superpowers!"

"Nonsense," Kyoshi snaps. "You should have begun your training when you were a child. You should have learned the arts of bending for yourself. You expose Raava too often and you have not yet learned the beginnings of your true power. You have no conception of what you can achieve with Raava's aid, Korra. But you must learn. Swiftly."

Korra shakes her head. "But... _I_ don't have any power! Raava's the one-"

Aang cuts her off. "Raava enhances what is already in you, Korra. And you need to know this, to _believe_ this, because you aren't the only bender in the world anymore. Remember when I said the art was lost? Well, somehow...the Red Lotus have found it. And it seems that their goal is to bring it back. That statue...I don't understand everything, but in releasing what was inside it, the potential has been created for airbending to exist in the world again. Zaheer is the first, but he won't be the last."

Korra blinks. "Wait. Is...that a bad thing? These powers...bending...it's dangerous, but it's...good, too? Right?"

Aang frowns. "It's...not inherently evil, no. But if people discover they can airbend, if it spreads without training, without understanding...the disruption it might cause-"

Kyoshi snorts. "Enough. Her chest is being compressed. Her heart is being forced to beat again. Korra. You have a choice to make. Choose what happens next."

"Choose...?" Korra glares at her. "Choose _what_? I'm shot! Not breathing! And even if I was...awake, I'm hurt. And the police were right behind me! And I can't even trust them, because at least one of them is working for the Red Lotus. The guy who shot me...Zaheer? He won! He got the statue! He made himself into an...airbender! I'm here, I don't have Raava, I don't have powers! What am I supposed to do? What's my _choice_?"

Aang is suddenly by her side. He puts his hand on her shoulder, and she can _feel_ it there, warm and heavy and real. "There are four elements, Korra. The Red Lotus have unleashed one. They must intend to release the rest. Do you think they're going to use that power for good? Or evil? As long as you and Raava are linked, you're the only one who can deal with the threat that power represents."

Korra coughs out a bitter laugh. "As long as Raava and I are linked? We're not Facebook friends! I thought that we were linked for...life...oh." Korra's eyes widen. "Oh. I'm...really dying."

Aang nods. "If you die now, the Red Lotus will have up to twenty years unopposed."

Quietly, Kyoshi says, "You could die, and know some measure of release from struggle. Or live and suffer through everything that might follow." She bows her head. "Choose."

Korra stares at the legion of her former selves. She slowly nods. "I...want to live, but I don't know what to do! There's so much I still don't understand!"

"You will understand," Aang promises. "We'll help you. But right now, your battle is simply this: _survive_. You're bleeding badly and surrounded by people who fear you, hate you, or simply don't understand you."

Korra snorts. " _I_ don't understand me! I'm...I don't know if I can do this by myself!"

Kyoshi places her hand on Korra's other shoulder. "You are wounded, but you are not helpless, Korra. You are _not_ a puppet. You are not one of them." She gestures at the legion of past lives. "You are not Aang."

Aang grins. "Nope! And you're definitely not Kyoshi!"

Kyoshi glares at him for a second before she looks back at Korra. "Obviously! Your enemies are formidable, but they have made a terrible mistake. They look at you and see Raava. But you are _not_ Raava. You are _Korra_. That is your greatest strength. To survive, to fight, to win, you need do one thing above all else. Be. Korra."

Korra shakes her head. "So...what would Korra do? That's the whole extent of your wisdom? Oh, crap. If the world needs saving and that's all it's got, the world is in _trouble_."

Kyoshi bears her teeth in a fierce grin. "The best kind, in my experience."

Korra clasps each of their hands. "Okay. Okay. What would Korra do when she's hurt and alone in the dark?" She fills her lungs with air. "Korra...would realise that she...really _can't_ do this alone."

Kyoshi stirs angrily, but Aang raises his hand. "Let her work through it."

Korra quickly shakes her head. "No, I...there were at least three Red Lotus, maybe more. But there can't be _many_ more. Zaheer got what he came for because he used his people to confuse us, create chaos, plunge us into darkness. He used the extent of the security presence against us." Korra's eyes widen. "Which...is going to make everyone less likely to trust security services and the police later, when the Red Lotus move again."

Aang inclines his head. "They undoubtedly will. They've invested a lot of effort into Republic City. I don't think they're done here."

Korra chews her lip. "This...Zaheer guy. He wants people...divided. He started with the gangs...he recruited muscle and kicked off a gang war. He wants to have me and the RCPD at war while he works on his real plans. Which probably include taking time out with a mirror to practice that creepy blank voice and face thing he does. Yeah, he wants people distracted and he wants me...isolated. But..." Korra slowly smiles. "But. I'm not alone, am I?"

"Nope," Aang says, grinning.

Kyoshi rolls her eyes. "Evidently not, child!"

Korra nods. Her past lives begin to grow indistinct, but rather than shrinking down to smaller points of light again, they spread out, filling the dark void with nearly blinding light.

First Kyoshi, then Aang dissolve into light that floods the area around Korra. Something stirs in Korra's chest. "What's Korra going to do? Start bringing people together. Because I can't do this alone. But I don't have to."

An impossibly loud drum sounds inside Korra's chest and all at once she's somewhere else.

* * *

Asami presses down sharply again on the Blue Spirit's chest. The second she does, the Blue Spirit gasps. Her eyes snap open, but they no longer blaze with light. It's impossible to tell what colour her eyes are in the dim light, but it's clear that whatever power she holds inside her isnt active right now.

Asami says, "Hey! Hi. Oh, thank goodness! You're going to be okay. You've been-"

Her voice is hoarse with pain, and sounds strangely...human. "Shot. By Zaheer. Who is...escaping."

Asami takes one of her hands. "Just...rest. He won't get away."

Behind her, Mako clears his throat. "I'm sorry, but...you're under arrest, Blue Spirit. I have to read you your-"

Opal snaps, "Mako, you're lucky my hands are full! She put herself in front of a gun for me! _Again!_ It could've been me lying here. What are you failing to grasp about what kind of person she is?"

Asami watches the Blue Spirit's face. As much of it as she can see at least. Her eyes are half-closed in pain. Or...maybe concentration. "Mako, please. Just...stop."

Mako sighs. "I...understand, Opal. Asami. Really. But she's going to be arrested, no matter what. She needs to be aware of her rights. Particularly her right to silence. For _her_ sake."

Kuvira squats beside Opal. "Mako isn't going to arrest anyone. He's off duty. You okay, Opal?"

"Bumps, bruises, and sheer, utter fury. Bear that in mind when you answer this question. Are _you_ arresting her?"

Asami shoots a look at Kuvira. Kuvira meets her eye and slightly shakes her head. "It's not my job. I'm sticking to Ms Beifong's side for the rest of the night. And probably getting suspended tomorrow."

Opal blinks. "Uh, no. You did nothing wrong. None of this is your fault, Kuvi."

The taller woman smiles wryly. "I appreciate that...Opal. But my superiors are likely going to disagree. I let you get taken. I let you get hurt."

Mako snarls, "How exactly did this happen? At least two Red Lotus? Here? How did we miss them?"

The Blue Spirit gently squeezes Asami's hand. "Three," she croaks.

Asami stares at her. "What?"

"One...with the gun...was RCPD."

Asami stops breathing. She's suddenly keenly aware of the other people in the room. The two men with her father, the woman guarding the door. Three others just went through the fire exit. Asami looks at Mako and Kuvira. "She said..."

Mako hunkers down beside her, expression grim. "I heard."

Kuvira frowns. "I...don't want to believe that. But I didn't want to believe in superpowers until she knocked me on my ass with them."

Mako bites his lip. "I...can't explain that, either."

Opal snorts. "She has superpowers. There! Explained. Now what's this about an RCPD traitor?"

Asami thinks about what Lin told her earlier about the Red Lotus and the way they seem to operate, like a covert organisation. "Can we afford to assume there isn't one? And if there's one, can we afford to assume that there aren't more? We still don't understand enough about the Red Lotus. But they aren't art thieves. Or kidnappers. They're something beyond that."

Mako grits his teeth. "Say we...say that's true. What do you want us to do, exactly?"

It's the Blue Spirit who answers. "Two...things. Warn...your people...on the roof. Zaheer...is going...up."

"Why? He'd be trapped..." Asami gasps. "Unless...he has a way down. Because _he_ has powers, too. Oh, no. Kuvira. Can you radio them?"

Kuvira nods, turning away and slipping a radio from her pocket.

Asami looks at the Blue Spirit. Her eyes are a little more open, a lot more focused. She's looking at each of the four people around her in turn. Asami has an idea of what she's about to ask. She squeezes her hand. "What's the second thing?"

The Blue Spirit coughs. "Ah...I need...all of you...to help me...get downstairs."

Asami nods and squeezes her hand tighter. "Done. I'm in. Opal?"

Opal's makeup is streaked with tears, her arms and her dress are smeared with blood, and she's been through more than enough already today. She grins and immediately says, " _Obviously_ I'm in! I can speak for Bolin, too, if we need him."

The Blue Spirit coughs. "Yeah. We...will. Later."

Asami blinks, wondering what _that_ means. 

Before she has a chance to find out, Opal breezily says, "And if you need a hideout, while you're recuperating, I'm sure I could find you somewhere to-"

"Okay, thanks, moving _swiftly_ on!" Asami looks to Kuvira, who pockets her radio and faces her again. "Kuvira?"

"I warned the people on the roof, but...not about powers. They wouldn't believe thay. I barely..." She frowns. "I can't assist a wanted woman. Sorry." She glances at Opal and sighs. "But I suspect I'll be too busy looking after Opal to notice anything else that might happen around here tonight."

Asami grins at her. They all look at Mako.

He groans. "Look, even if the RCPD _was_ compromised, we can't just excuse...and we can't carry her out past all the other officers here. Or past Captain Beifong? Or any of the security out front? And she needs real medical attention! And-"

Asami grits her teeth. "Mako! Any objection in _principle_? Or can we get to the part where we start solving those problems?"

Mako sighs. "I don't-"

Asami grabs his lapel and hauls him closer. There was a time when that sort of thing was a prelude to them kissing. Judging from the look on Mako's face, they both know that time is long past.

"You owe me, Mako. And we _all_ owe her. For Opal. For Bolin."

"Asami..." Mako carefully reaches up and gently removes her hand. His touch doesn't linger. "Alright. I'm in."

Asami nods. "Okay. Good. Now...how do we-"

The Blue Spirit coughs again. "Fire stairs. Down. Lobby. I...plan."

Asami turns to Mako and raises an eyebrow. 

He rubs his jaw. "We'll need a diversion..."

Opal snorts. "That'll be me. I'm very diverting. And my ankle's hurt, so I'm not carrying anyone down a whole bunch of stairs."

Mako nods. "Alright." He hesitates. "Kuvira..."

She rolls her eyes. "I'll run interference with Opal. You and Asami carry her. Got it."

Asami nods at her. "Kuvira. I know we had a rocky start, but...I won't forget this. Thank you. Um. A favour, though? Another one, I mean."

Kuvira raises her eyebrows. "We're running out of time, Ms Sato. She's bleeding, and the longer we wait, the less chaos there is out there to distract our fellow officers."

Asami flushes, but keeps her tone even. "You can call me Asami. Would you keep an eye on my father? And...please, look out for Korra. My date? I-"

Opal quickly says, "You've got it, Asami. Don't worry. We're on the case."

Asami nods. "Okay. First step: diversion."

* * *

Opal takes a deep breath. "Mako, come here and put pressure on this wound. I have a feeling I'm about to be very upset at those officers who are keeping me away from my beloved in my moment of need. I have a feeling I will be yelling very loudly and gesticulating wildly, possibly spattering blood in a manner that is bound to keep people focused on me." She blinks and looks down at the Blue Spirit. "Um. Sorry, that was insensit-"

The Spirit chuckles weakly. "It's...fine. Thanks. Looking...forward to...the show."

Opal bites her lip. Mako eases into position beside her, placing his hand over her's. Opal meets the Blue Spirit's eye. "Hey. Don't you dare go dying on me. I won't forgive you, you hear me? And everyone knows a Beifong grudging against you is a fate worse than death, so...be logical here!"

Mako says, "I've got her, Opal."

The Spirit winces when Mako bears down on her wound and Opal pulls her bloody hands away. But with the hand not currently being clutched by Asami, the Spirit manages a thumbs up for Opal.

She stands up, wobbling slightly when she puts her weight on her bad ankle. Kuvira gently grasps her elbow, supporting her. Opal takes another breath. "Good luck, guys. Be safe."

Asami offers her a shaky smile. "Everything's going to be fine!"

Opal decides that now isn't the time to tell Asami that she needs to work on her lying skills. Instead, she squares her shoulders and stride-limps as best she can to the door to the hall, fixing her eyes on the biggest officer and summoning every ounce of sheer, utter fury that Zaheer awoke in her. 

She waits until the officer spots her, his eyes widen, and his lips part before she starts waving her bloody hands around and says, "You, there! I demand to know what's happening! I demand to see my Bolin this instant! I demand an ice pack for Papa Sato's head and a towel for my hands! A moist one! And a therapy dog! A dozen therapy dogs, for everyone at this event! Are there therapy cats? I want at least two, if there are!"

Opal has all eyes on her. She's drawing attention from out in the hall, too. It's difficult, but she resists the urge to look round. She has to buy as much time for the the Blue Spirit as possible.

The officer exchanges a bewildered look with his colleagues. "Ma'am, I-"

"Don't you ma'am me! Are you listening to me? Why aren't you writing this down? I demand that my demands be taken seriously! I have a list of demands, and I demand that you list them in the right order! And I demand my BOLIN!"

Confusion changes to irritation as the officer gathers his wits. "Listen, miss, I know this isn't ideal but the situation out in the main hall is not secure and-"

Kuvira squeezes Opal's elbow. She hopes that means that Asami and Mako have made it through the fire escape. Opal lowers her voice and pours honey on her words. "Oh, I understand completely! And it's Ms Beifong. Possibly you could let my auntie know that I'm stuck in here having narrowly escaped being shot? Ooops, sorry, I mean, she's auntie to me, but I think you call her Captain Beifong?"

He blanches. "Uh...Ms...Beifong?"

Kuvira casually says, "You might want to look into the towel, the ice pack, and the fiancé, too. Right now."

The officer rushes off. Opal limps away from the door peers nervously around. She whispers to Kuvira, "They got out?"

"They did. How far they get...well. Mako's dependable. And Ms...Asami is impressive under pressure, I'll admit."

Opal chuckles weakly, her whole body sagging with relief. "You have no idea. And the Blue Spirit is...trust me, she's not going to be stopped by a bullet!"

Kuvira gives her a look that makes Opal think that Asami's not the only one who needs to work on her lying skills. "I'm sure she'll be fine. How are you, Opal? How are you really?"

"I'm..." She suddenly becomes aware of her body, and how much it hurts where Zaheer tossed her around, and how exhausted she is. She's aware of everything she's trying to hold back, all of the fear and the horror, and how close she is to cracking. She's abruptly, agonisingly dizzy and feels too constrained by the dark room around her and the smell of blood in the air. Opal groans, and fights down a stomach-twisting spasm of nausea. "I think I might need to demand a chair, too..."

Kuvira catches her before Opal's even realised that her knees have given out.

* * *

Zaheer steps out onto the roof of the museum, enjoying the feel of the cool night air on his skin.

A pair of RCPD officers in tactical gear are waiting for him, guns trained. One of them yells, "Hands on your head! On your knees, NOW!"

Zaheer raises his hands and smiles. "No. It's time we as a species were lifted from our knees." 

He flows into motion, pushing his hands forward, summoning a powerful gust of wind that hits the officers in their chests and sends them both sprawling, spinning and tumbling across the roof until they crash into an air-conditioning unit.

Zaheer closes the distance between them in six loping strides, kicking one man in the jaw as he tries to stand. The other officer goes for his fallen pistol, but Zaheer reaches out and the wind answers his command, dragging the pistol out of the officer's reach, then pushing it up into the air where it settles into Zaheer's waiting hand. 

The officer gapes up at him. "Please..."

"Don't worry. Killing you would serve no purpose." Zaheer flips the pistol in his hand and slams the butt of the gun against the officer's head, stunning him. "Your superiors will try to quash tales of powers. Your fellow officers will listen to your stories. Belief will spread. As will doubt. Uncertainty. Discord. You will be a good servant of the Red Lotus as we move to the next phase."

He tosses the weapon aside and crosses the roof in a crouched run, heading for an electrical junction box. There he feels around the underside of the unit until he finds the phone that was left for him earlier. He dials a number from memory and presses the call button. 

P'li answers on the first ring.

"Yes?"

"Success. I'll be making my way to the plaza for extraction."

P'li is silent for a second. Then, her voice dazed with wonder, she says, "U-understood. See you soon."

Zaheer hangs up. He methodically destroys the sim card and the phone. He runs, keeping low, to the edge of the roof. He leaps off, into the air, and he doesn't fall. The wind carries him safely to the roof of a building across the street.

Zaheer studies the skyline of the city around him, considering all the new possibilities that await him. The possibilities that await the Red Lotus, and the world.

"I'm going to tear you down," he promises Republic City. "And build something beautiful in your place."

He smiles and leaps out into the night, certain that nothing can bring him down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for tuning in, folks!
> 
> Plots are thickening, bad guys are getting the upper hand-ening, and this very long, very stressful day is coming to a close for our girls at last. I rather think that next chapter will wrap up the auction arc and bring us to the conclusion of our midseason finale! I will try to provide thrills, think I can definitely guarantee spills, and hope that I'll see you all in two weeks for that!
> 
> Please do leave a comment, especially if you have any feedback or criticism you'd like to offer! And thanks again for your time!


	12. The Lights Go Out Pt. 3

P'li pockets her phone. She takes a moment to compose herself. It's been a long time since she was recruited, a long time that she's been carrying this impossible idea of what the world could be. And now, tonight, the dream is beginning to become a reality.

She closes her eyes and lets herself feel it. But only for a second. There's a lot more work to do tonight, and much more in the months to come. She needs to stay focused.

P'li nods at the smaller woman who waits beside her in the abandoned office complex just a few blocks from the museum. "Zaheer did it. He's making his own way out. You're up."

Ming-Hua raises her head, her long greying hair falling away to reveal a wolfish smile. She arms the detonator she's been holding patiently since Zaheer last made contact. "Pity we couldn't bring the whole thing down..."

P'li snorts. "Too dramatic, at this stage. We just need to...spread a little panic."

"That's the thing about fire." Ming-Hua raises a heavily scarred hand and flicks a series of switches on the detonator, arming it. "You never know what'll happen after you strike the match." She pushes the button that triggers the incendiary devices one of their people in the RCPD planted in the museum, during what was supposed to be a security sweep. "You might think you have all the variables accounted for, but you never know who's going to get burned."

"Good thing the fire service has such excellent response times, then." P'li closes the fastenings on her fire department jacket and scoops up her helmet and mask. "Time for you to head to the plaza."

She nods. "Have fun in there."

P'li grunts. "I only do what is necessary. That's all."

She strides downstairs, down to the underground parking bay, where their recently stolen fire engine's waiting to ride to the good people of Republic City's rescue.

* * *

Asami doesn't wait past Opal's first shouted word. She exchanges a look with Mako, who nods. To the Blue Spirit she says, "We're going to move you, now."

The Blue Spirit nods. Mako shifts, moving an arm under her shoulders. When he lifts her, she grunts softly in pain, but that's the only sound she makes. Mako gathers her up, one arm under her shoulders, the other under her legs. He stands up and Asami quickly strides to the fire door, easing it ajar.

It's dark on the other side of the door. Whatever the Red Lotus have done to the power, it's knocked out the emergency lights, too. She resists the temptation to look back. She waits for Mako to reach her side, then pushes open the door. She slips through, holding the swing door for Mako who quickly and quietly steps through. Asami eases the door shut silently behind them.

It's almost entirely dark. The faint green glow of the bulb in the fire exit sign is their only illumination. There five flights up. The fire stairs are every bit as functional as the museum is beautiful; a set of broad, chipped concrete steps, with a steel safety rail to protect anyone panicking from plunging down the shaft of the stairwell.

Mako grunts. He whispers, "Can't see much. You got your phone?"

Asami shakes her head. "I lost it back there. You?"

"Right jacket pocket."

It feels more than a little awkward, getting into Mako's space, digging into Mako's pocket. He's stiff, tense, and Asami thinks it isn't just the effort of supporting the Blue Spirit's body. She fishes out his phone, punches in the code he whispers to her and freezes when she sees the background picture.

It's Mako and Kuvira, smiling and sharing an embrace.

Asami sucks in a breath. She's beginning to understand Kuvira's attitude earlier. Asami suddenly has a _lot_ of questions, but...the Blue Spirit needs her.She crushes everything else down and switches on the flashlight.

They start down the stairs, Asami keeping the light low and ahead of them. The Blue Spirit clutches at her wound with one hand. Her other dangles free. Asami clasps it, finding it worryingly chilly. "You still with us?"

"Where...else...would I...be?"

Asami smiles. "I don't know, you're a superhero. I have no idea how you got here in the first place."

"Thought...I wasn't..."

Asami cuts her off. "You're a hero. I know that, without doubt." They reach a landing, which gives Asami a chance to look at Mako. His face is lost to shadow. "I'll be making sure all my readers know it, too."

The Blue Spirit coughs out a laugh. "I...could live...without...the...attention."

"I'm not sure you have a choice." Asami squeezes her hand. "You've...made an impression tonight. On some of the most influential people in the city. Yesterday, you were a novelty. Tomorrow...you'll be famous."

Mako clears his throat. "You might be more...infamous. A lot of people saw you...adding to the chaos up there. Even if...they're...maybe wrong. About...you."

"Was that...?" Asami glares uselessly at him through the darkness. "Is that really your idea of an _apology_?"

The Blue Spirit squeezes her hand and says, "Cops."

"That's not...it's not about my being a cop!" Mako hisses out an irritated breath. "Okay, maybe it is, but...I've given so much to the badge. I _believe_ in what it represents. I have strong opinions on who should be enforcing the law, and it should _not_ be untrained civilians, with no oversight. I won't apologise for that, or for trying to do my duty. But...I made a mistake tonight. And people got hurt. Don't think I don't know that. I...I know I've made...a lot of mistakes, Asami. I want to...do better."

Asami sighs. "Now really isn't the time for _that_ conversation. I'm not sure I could handle another of your 'apologies,' anyway. Let's focus on-"

The Blue Spirit squeezes her hand again. "No... _cops_."

Which is when Asami sees the beam of a flashlight bobbing on a flight of stairs two landings below them. It's coming their way. 

Asami kills the flashlight. "What do we do?"

Mako sighs. "I...we can try to talk our way past, but...I won't fight fellow officers, Asami. And maybe we need to rethink this plan." He lowers his voice so much that Asami has to strain to hear him. "She needs a hospital."

Asami isn't sure that Mako's wrong. There is every logical reason to think that the Blue Spirit, who is clearly a woman of flesh and blood, who is mortal, won't survive the night without medical intervention.

The Blue Spirit whispers, "No...lobby...please."

Asami grits her teeth. There is no logical reason to think that someone like the Blue Spirit could exist. But she does. And she's done the impossible more than once already. Asami rolls her shoulders and stretches her neck. She kicks out, testing how much give she has in her skirt. Not much.

She'll work around it.

Mako hisses out a breath. "Asami...you don't have to-"

"We're taking her to the lobby, Mako. We're doing what she asks of us. And I'm not letting anyone take her into custody." Asami slips his phone back into his pocket. "So you can try talking, and I hope that's enough. But if comes to it..." Asami grabs the Blue Spirit's hand and squeezes it one last time. "I'm ready to do the fighting."

* * *

Opal finds herself sitting in a folding chair in one corner of the room with Bolin beside her, clasping her hand. The lights are still out, but she can see well enough to see how worried he is, and the way he pushes it away when she focuses on him, the way he grins for her.

"Hey, Opal. You okay?"

"I...think so." She smiles weakly. "Dizzy. Too hot. There's...like, a...whistling? In my ears. It's weird, but...I think I'm basically fine."

"Well, we're stuck here a bit longer, I think. I think they think it's safer in here than out there, though this is a crime scene. I guess out there is, too. Y'know, if this was Cop on the Edge 3: The Brink, I'd be-"

"Detective Sergeant Jin Brinkowski, aka 'The Brink,' yes," Opal says, nodding along patiently.

"Exactly! And I'd be concerned about all these crime scenes being contaminated. But I guess there's nowhere else to go right now and they're trying to avoid a panic? The Brink would still be mad, but...he's a cop on the edge driven by an unquenchable thirst for justice and a secret tragic history, involving both a murdered fiancée and a kitten, you know?"

"Yeah." An idea hits Opal, then. A bad one, born of an intuition she's been nursing since before the Red Lotus made their move. "Good points all round...sooo...can we make a solemn binding pact real quick?"

"All of our pacts are solemn. Especially splitting the last cookie in the jar. So, yeah!"

"Well...okay, actually, first? I'm not generally a fainter, so if I omit this incident from my birography...you'll back me up, right?"

"You don't even have to ask!" Bolin pauses, considering. "Well, you do...but only so I know what version of events you need me to support."

Opal still doesn't feel quite right, but she decides she feels well enough to kiss him, so she kisses him. "Thanks. So, uh, listen...I need a favour." He opens his mouth immediately, so Opal puts a finger to his lips. "Beloved, it's bigger than cookies or biographies or...uh, where's Kuvira?"

"Here." She's leaning against the wall behind Opal, stoic and solid. She sighs. "Why do I have a feeling you're about to do something _else_ stupid, Opal. Or illegal. Or both."

"Probably all three of those, honestly." Opal bites her lip. "Do you know what's going on yet, Kuvira?"

She sighs, but quietly recites, "You were only out a couple of minutes. Power's still gone. Your mother and the captain are keeping everybody calm and contained, as best they can. Which isn't easy as a lot of important people are cooped up here with their bodyguards. But until the building's been cleared...Captain's keeping things locked down. There's a search on all floors, but there's no word on Zaheer yet. No word from the roof, either. No word from..." She lowers her voice. "Asami. Mr Sato is...they're talking about moving him as a priority."

"He's...not okay?"

Bolin says, "He will be, Opal. He'll be fine. And whatever it is you need, I'll do it. You _always_ split the last cookie in the jar, even when I eat all the other ones."

"A promise is a promise," Opal whispers, and just like that, she's certain. About a great many things.

"You have ninety seconds, Opal." Opal doesn't need to see Kuvira's face to know she's making a face. "I'm going to be standing at the door. I'm hoping whatever you're planning can't be done in that time."

Opal rolls her eyes.

"I saw that," Kuvira says.

"No you didn't, it's too dark! Crap! I mean, there was nothing to see?"

Kuvira pats her shoulder in passing, forcing a smile out of Opal.

"Honey?" Bolin's voice is quiet, more urgent than usual. "What do you need me to do?"

Opal rubs her temples, thinking furiously, weighing the chance her intuition's wrong against the consequences if she isn't. "Bolin...what do I never forget?"

"Birthdays, the unique feel of different people's intercostals after a single hug, the name of everyone who has ever wronged Asami, and the lyrics and dance moves to every song Beyoncé has been even marginally involved with."

"I had to invent some of those dance moves, too." Opal blows out a breath. "Right. So, uh, on the basis of my established powers of memory...I need you to find some evidence I think is hidden in this room and _seriously_ contaminate the crap out of this crime scene."

* * *

Korra feels weird. For a start, it's a little scary how scared she isn't. She's in pain, and she feels weak, but she also feels almost...untethered. It's not that she isn't aware of her body, because every step Mako takes is competing for the title of the most painfully _in_ -body experience she's ever had.

But there are other things competing for her attention. Whispers and sensations and whole...directions she wasn't aware of before are making themselves known to her. She thinks that maybe she's become aware of something that was always there, of the way that the world talks to...benders like her.

It's what clued her in to the presence of the RCPD officers several floors down: a subtle change in air pressure when they came into stairwell. She isn't even sure how she knew what that was, but some part of her recognised it. And the thing is, she still can't feel Raava within her, so that part of her really maybe is...her.

Korra.

Or maybe she's lost more blood than she thought and she's hallucinating.

One of those.

Aang is suddenly beside her. "You're not hallucinating, Korra."

She stares at him. "I'm not? Because you're...uh..."

He's wearing a saffron and orange robe, he has crow's feet at the corner of his eyes and deep smile lines around his mouth. He has brown eyes, and now that they're not just points of blue light, it's even more obvious how kind they are.

"You're not very ghostly right now, ghost monk. What's changed?"

"You're...more in tune with certain spiritual energies right now."

"Oh. Is this more of the whole...me being near death thing?"

"Er...in completely unrelated news, it might not be a bad idea to find a good supply of clean water soon."

"So I can heal myself? Water I've got covered, but unless Raava...hold on." Korra snorts. "So this is more of a...me _nearing_ death thing?"

"If you can't stop the bleeding yourself, Korra...you'll need an ambulance. A hospital. You'll be exposed, and if the police don't lock you away..."

"The Red Lotus will get me. Although...Zaheer could've killed me. He said he didn't want me dead, though."

"Yet." Kyoshi flanks Aang, her robe of rich green silk is subtly patterned, and the face underneath a full layer of paint is strong, certain, proud...but not cruel, Korra thinks. "Zaheer said he did not want you dead _yet_. He has plans for you, Korra. I recommend you foil them. With lava, for preference."

"Well, that's definitely on the to do list, Kyoshi. Right after not dying and _finding_ the Red Lotus."

Kyoshi snorts. "You will not die here, Korra."

"I'm working on it. I'm going to...hold up again. _Lava_? Was that a...joke?"

Aang sighs. "I'm guessing no. I never mastered the technique, but there is such a thing as-"

"Lavabending," Kyoshi says, smiling wistfully. "I used it to destroy so many enemies, in happier times. And to make an island, once."

Korra exchanges a look with Aang. "Riiiight. Cool! You'll need to teach me the island thing!"

Kyoshi sniffs. "Perhaps I shall. But for now, shh! I intend to enjoy the show."

"Ah, one second," Aang says, holding up his hand. "Korra. Remember those breathing exercises I taught you? The, ahem, 'boring, pointless meditation crap.' Use them."

"Why...?"

"It slows the heart rate. So it'll slow your bleeding."

"Hush," Kyoshi snaps, "Asami is about to fight. Korra will want to watch without interruptions."

Aang rolls his eyes at Kyoshi. "Korra will, huh? Can I get you any spirit popcorn, Kyoshi?"

"Silence, Aang! This is serious!" She purses her lips. "Besides, Kyoshi does not like popcorn."

Korra blinks and all the pain comes rushing back as she becomes one with right now again. Mako's stopped moving halfway down a flight of stairs, because a pair of RCPD officers are a couple of steps below him, blocking him. Asami is behind them; Korra thinks she can smell her perfume. She misses the feel of Asami's hand in hers, even if it was somewhat spoiled by all the blood and the whole dying thing. Korra's heart throbs, so she tries to push the unhelpful thoughts aside, find some calm and focus on her breathing.

Mako says, "Officers. I have a wounded woman here. She needs urgent medical assistance. The elevators are out and I need to get her downstairs, five minutes ago. You need to get out of our way."

"Not bad," Aang mutters. He crosses his fingers. "It might not come to a fight."

The cop on Korra's left shines a flashlight on Korra, forcing her to squint. "Oh, man that's a lot of...wait. What's that on her face? Is this...she's the vigilante!"

The other officer puts his left hand on the butt of the gun he wears on his hip. "Okay, you know what? We're going to escort you all down and make sure this lady gets treatment. And while that's happening, you'll need to answer a few questions. Okay?"

"No," Asami whispers. "Mako. Do something. Or I will."

It's kind of obvious how nervous that makes Mako, given the way his knees shake and the huge breath he gulps in. "I'm a detective, officers. Mako, 13th Precinct. So let's calm down. I've got this. I take full responsibility for what happens here. You can take your hand off that weapon. And get out of our way. Right. Now."

He doesn't. He glances at his partner. "Better radio this in..." He glances up at Mako. "Sorry, detective, but we can't take chances-"

"Neither can I," Mako snaps. "We've got good evidence that the RCPD has been compromised. And this woman is a witness. I'm taking personal charge of her, and I'm not going to stand here another second debating this."

The cops exchange a glance. The one with the flashlight unsnaps his weapon. "Okay, so now we're going to ask you to surrender any weapons. And I'm considering cuffs-"

Asami launches herself from the steps above, diving over Mako's head at an angle, aiming at the cop on Korra's right and the banister behind him. The officer has less than a second to react and since, Korra guesses, RCPD training doesn't cover aerial attacks by women wearing evening gowns in dark stairwells, he spends all of that time frozen in place, gaping at Asami.

She grabs his left arm with both hands, kicks out with both feet together, and, using him like a pivot, she swings out into the empty air between the flights of stairs. Korra's heart seems to stop all over again as Asami twists her body out over a twenty foot drop to the concrete below. She seems to hang for an awful instant over the drop...then she's sailing over the banister _behind_ the cop, clearing it by milimetres, as she releases his arm.

The momentum Asami generates in her dive and swing yanks the cop around violently. He crashes into the banister, his hat flying off and tumbling into the dark gulf of the stairwell. He almost joins it, nearly toppling over, but he's able to grab the banister and keep himself mostly upright. He's left gasping, winded, and clutching desperately at the steel rail.

Meanwhile, Asami hurtles up through the air, tucking herself into a ball. As she begins to tumble down, she reaches out and grabs the edge of a stair with one hand, twists, and kicks out with both feet, connecting with the back of the other officer's knees, sending him pitching backwards. Asami spins on her hand, using the momentum from her kick, grabs the step with her other hand and pushes off, flipping over the cop's body as he tumbles down the stairs. She lands in a crouch, feet together, on a higher step. She pauses for a second, recovering her balance and tossing her hair behind her with a flick of her neck.

Korra is aware that her mouth is hanging open. She isn't sure how fast her heart is beating anymore, or if it is at all, but she can no longer deny who it belongs to.

The second cop hits the wall of the landing and lies there, groaning. The first cop struggles upright, reaching for his pistol and trying to turn on Asami. Asami surges up a step, grabs his left wrist as his pistol clears its holster and twists. She keeps climbing back up towards Korra and Mako, pulling his arm with her, locking it out, forcing him to drop the gun. Asami turns, grabs the collar of his jacket, and forces him onto his knees.

In a low voice she growls, "Do you want to be able to help your friend get medical attention? Or wait however long it takes for someone else to find both of you lying here unconscious? Bear in mind, I just ripped my skirt doing all that."

Korra hears Mako sigh and whisper, "Oh, boy...this is bad."

The cop groans. "I...think I like option one better...?"

For Korra, he's almost drowned out by Kyoshi's sudden and enthusiastic round of applause. "You will spar with her Korra, and it will be glorious! You will be able to refine your skills and sharpen your ardour for each other! And if, after tonight, you do not do everything you can to bring Asami into your life...you will know Kyoshi's curse!"

Korra makes an immense effort and reels in her gaping jaw. "I can't...even...wow. She's so... _wow_!"

Aang clears his throat. "This could have serious repercussions for..." He breaks off when Kyoshi and Korra both glare at him. "What? You think I don't think she's amazing? I can airbend and I wouldn't have tried that stunt! But she's famous and she's fighting the police and...uh..." Aang frowns, tilting his head.

But before he says anything, Korra gets it, too. A sense of wrongness in the air, a scent, familiar and frightening, one that's seemingly bypassing her nose and going straight to her mind.

Aang's expression becomes grim. "Smoke."

"Red Lotus! More chaos, to cover their escape. And their tracks." Korra raises her voice as best she can, so that everyone on the landing can hear her. "Stop! Fire. Need...hurry. Fire."

Asami stares at her. "Are you sure...superhero. Of course you are. Officer...?"

"Marsh," he gasps.

"New plan. We're going to the lobby with the injured, but first, you're going to radio up to tell everybody the building's on fire and that they need to evacuate. Say anything else about what happened here and...did I mention this was one of my favourite gowns?"

* * *

Opal's beginning to feel more like herself when Bolin returns to her, his jacket bulging conspicuously around his middle. Opal's not sure if she's relieved or even more worried that she was right. "You found it?"

"I did, and I didn't look, like you said, and I hid it." He looks left, right, then kneels beside her, whispering, "I hid it in my jacket!"

"Thanks, Bolin. You're a lifesaver. Literally. And figuratively, probably? But, uh, be careful when the lights go back on, because that isn't the most subtle of hiding...Kuvira!" Opal's bodyguard suddenly looms over Bolin. "Hiiii! We so weren't discussing illegality, we were discussing, uh..."

Kuvira folds her arms. "You could make _some_ effort to-"

"Pomeranians! Right, honey?"

Bolin considers the question. "Weeeell, I see your Pomeranian, and I raise you...a Welsh Corgi!"

"See Kuvira, haha? We were just talking..." Opal blinks. "Okay, but...why _don't_ we have a Corgi? I've just realised, this is the one thing my life is missing. Bolin!"

"Yeah?"

"We should get a Corgi!"

"Well, yeah!" Bolin rolls his eyes. "That's what I've been saying all night in our pretend conversation we weren't having!"

Opal hangs her head. "I should really have pretend listened better...sorry, beloved."

"You can pretend make it up to me later, it's fine!" Bolin purses his lips. "Or really make it up to me. By getting a Corgi."

Kuvira rubs her brow. "I'm beginning to look forward to getting fired tomorrow."

Opal smiles wanly. "Relax, Kuvy! You're not going to get fired, and you won't have to bodyguard me anymore. Zaheer...well, he made it pretty clear that he's not interested in me. He never was, except I was the most convenient Beifong for them to go after." Opal shrugs. "They got what they wanted, here. I'm nothing to them, now. I don't think the Red Lotus are going to cause me any more problems."

Kuvira tilts her head. "Well...even if I am fired, you should insist that someone still keep an eye on you for a while. To be safe. I'd be...annoyed if something else happened to you."

Bolin nods vigorously. "I'll keep a lookout. So will our ferocious guard Corgi."

Opal sighs. "Yeah, well. I think I'd rather be the one looking out for you, and our friends, and our incredibly sweet-natured normal Corgi. And maybe even Mako, but..." Opal kisses Bolin's brow. She smiles at Kuvira. "I'm grateful. To both of you. And I think, other than giving my statement later, I've done all I can about the Red Lotus." Softly, unsure if anyone can hear her and less sure she wants them to, Opal whispers, "For tonight at least. I still owe...her."

Kuvira's radio crackles, and she quickly digs it out of her pocket. All around the room, the other officers check their radios, too. Kuvira's expression grows even grimmer. "Someone -- I'm assuming the Red Lotus -- have set fire to the building. We have to clear out."

Opal gapes at her. "Okay, yeah, wow...I guess the Red Lotus are still a problem tonight."

* * *

Asami gets her first whiff of smoke when they reach ground floor. "Superhero instincts...you were right!"

The Blue Spirit says nothing.

"Mako, is she...?"

"She's breathing. Very slowly, but she's breathing."

Officer Marsh, who's supporting his stumbling colleague, glares at them both. "She needs an ambulance. What you did was stupid, and pointless. And now you're both in troub-"

Mako, who is weighed down with the Blue Spirit and the other officers' sidearms in his pockets, snaps, "Quiet! We've no idea what we're up against, but right now, we're all on the same side. Whatever you feel the need to do later, that's for later."

Marsh sucks in a breath. "Alright, Detective. But there's only one way this ends for you two."

With a calm she doesn't really feel, Asami says, "Enough. The building's burning. You're wasting time we don't have."

Asami eases open the door to the lobby. It's different in darkness, so different from the place where she and Korra declared tonight a date. Asami almost falters there, but she forces her fear for Korra down, along with her worry about Officer Marsh's 'later,' and...everything else that tonight has exposed her to.

There's more light here, thanks to the radiance from streetlights spilling through the glass frontage. But there's a dull, angry glow at the far side of the hall, and smoke stings her eyes and scrapes against her throat.

The lobby seems clear of people, at least. The string quartet and coat check staff have already left the building. Which means that the RCPD officers and security personnel outside are likely going to be making their way in soon.

If they're going to get the Blue Spirit out, it has to be now.

Asami heads into the lobby, holding the door for the others and sweeping the room, looking for anyone who might still be around. "Come on, quickly!"

Officer Marsh and his partner make their awkward way through the door first. Asami hopes the other man isn't too badly injured, but...she couldn't let them take the Blue Spirit into custody. Could she?

Mako comes next. He meets her eye, his expression troubled. Asami looks away.

She takes the lead, automatically guiding them to the main door when the Blue Spirit whispers, "Wrong...way. Behind..."

Mako shakes his head. "Officer Marsh is right, Asami. She needs a hospital, right now! And we need to get out of here before-"

"Exactly what has she been wrong about so far tonight, Mako?" Asami snaps, rounding on him. "Turn around or give her to me."

Marsh ignores them, limping grimly for the exit.

"Mako!" Asami sucks in a breath. "I know you're struggling to believe in her. I know this whole situation is...beyond crazy. But I need you to trust me. Believe in me. Just a little longer. Okay?"

He groans. "Fine! But this is _insane_!"

They turn and go back in the opposite direction, into the middle of the hall, closer to the flames, which are spreading deceptively slowly. The smoke is already thickening, and Asami begins to worry about all the people upstairs.

"Do you think...why haven't they started evacuating yet?"

Mako coughs. "They will. Captain Beifong knows what she's doing. Don't worry about them. Worry about us."

Asami doesn't answer him. She walks quickly, hoping she looks every bit as confident as she doesn't feel. She has no idea where she's going, though, so she waits for further instruction from the Blue Spirit. While she does, Asami finds herself gravitating to the place where she and Korra stood and listened to the music and to their instincts, rather than logic.

Mako suddenly gasps. "Crap!" He stumbles, catches himself, and, as carefully as he can, lowers the Blue Spirit to the ground. He stays crouched beside her, panting. "What's the plan here? Can either of you tell me that?"

Asami shakes her head. "The plan is...do everything we can for the person who keeps saving the lives of people we love. Because that's the least that we owe her."

"Asami...if Marsh presses charges against you..."

Around them, the smoke thickens. The heat is intensifying. The Blue Spirit lies prone, seemingly unmoving. And Asami begins to feel doubt, gnawing at her, even as the fires in the hall rear up higher, throwing sullen light and flickering shadow across them. 

Asami crosses to the Blue Spirit, and kneels beside her. She grabs her hand, squeezing and rubbing at her skin. "Hey. Hey! Can you hear me?"

She doesn't answer.

Mako snorts. "We're done. We've done all we can. You've done more than you should have. We have to get out of here, before we don't have a choice anymore."

Asami hesitates.

Behind them, the main door bursts open. A tall firefighter wearing a mask and a helmet, and carrying an axe strides into the hall, bellowing orders. Officer Marsh comes with her, his expression grim as he peers through the darkness. Firefighters rush into the hall, moving with brisk efficiency as they split up at their leader's orders, heading to the stairs or other parts of the hall.

Softly, Mako says, "Asami. It's over. We did what we could. We have to go. If you turn yourself over to Marsh, maybe I can-"

Asami tunes him out, because she isn't interested in officer Marsh and possible legal complications. She's much, much more interested in the firefighters, and especially the one in charge. Asami's eyes flick around, taking in all the details can. Her heart starts to race her mind, but her mind is, thankfully, faster, chains of logic outpacing the new fear that's threatening to drag her down.

"Mako. Shut up and be useful. What's happening right now?"

He glares at her. "The fire service are here, to help with the evacuation, and to deal with _that_."

He gestures behind him, though he really doesn't need to. Asami is keenly aware of how much closer the flames are getting, at how much worse the smoke is already. 

"Good, great, thanks! Now look again and _think_." She can feel the way his muscles tense, she can see the anger in the way his jaw tightens. "Mako! The power's out. No alarms. We were alerted to the fire minutes ago by a superhero. How good is the response time-"

"Not that good," Mako says, grimly, reaching into his pockets for the revolvers he took from his fellow officers earlier. "But...more Red Lotus? That seems...crap. It fits, doesn't it? What better way to get their operatives out than using this fire as a cover? They can spread more chaos and-"

"Okay, much better thinking," Asami says, hurriedly tying her hair back. She goes to work on her skirt, hoping that the splits she put in the material earlier will allow her to radically shorten the skirt. "But...main point. The woman with the axe? The one with the oddly proportioned body and limbs? Who is..." Asami looks up and winces when she sees Marsh and the firefighter heading straight for them. "Coming this way?"

Mako blinks. "Woman? She's really tall if she's a...oh."

"Yeah, I think that's P'li." Asami widens the split in the seam of her skirt, but that's all. She gets up, gesturing to Mako, and advances several paces to meet the others, not wanting any potential fighting to happen too near the Blue Spirit. Mako quickly joins her side, much to her relief. She offers him a quick smile. "I don't suppose you have a knife at all?"

"Too late," Mako sighs, thumbing the hammers on his guns.

The firefighter stops a few feet away, Marsh beside her. To the cop she says, "You were right. Here they are."

"Yeah, and I have no clue why," Marsh says, glancing nervously at the guns in Mako's hands. "Detective Mako, are you crazy? Give it up! We've got to get that woman out of here! We've _all_ got to get out of here!"

Asami gives up on her skirt, and pushes herself upright. She's tired. It's been a long day, and there's been too much of it she'd rather forget. She doesn't know how much fight she has left in her. She glances at the wounded woman lying on the floor and grits her teeth. "Enough," she snaps. "I know you're Red Lotus."

Marsh blinks. "What? What are you talking about...actually, that can wait. Until we get out of the burning building? I want everyone safe, that's my prior-"

"She was talking to me," the firefighter says, surging into motion. 

She slams her elbow into the side of Marsh's head. Marsh's eyes roll up and he goes limp, falling in a heap on the floor. Long before he's hit the ground, the tall woman surges forward, hurling her axe at Mako. Mako raises his guns, but Asami screams and dives into his side, knocking them both to the floor a fraction of a second before the axe passes through the space above their heads that Mako's torso previously occupied.

One of the guns falls out of his hand and skitters across the tiles. The other booms out, firing a bullet out into some dark corner of the hall. Behind them, the axe thuds into something, and there's a sound like glass breaking, and shards of something clatter against the floor. The firefighter steps forward, tugging off her mask.

P'li smiles at Asami. "Ms Sato. I fear you've maligned the reputation of that officer. Not to worry, you won't have to live down the shame for long."

Asami scrambles to her feet, but she's hampered by the dress, and P'li's ready for her. Her boot slams into Asami's chest, knocking her on her back and blasting the air out of her lungs.

Mako lunges upright, aiming his gun, but P'li grabs his wrist with one hand and wrenches his arm out to the side. Mako leaps at her, yelling, his right hand balled into a fist, but P'li yanks at his arm, pulling him off balance, and drives her knee into his stomach. He doubles over, wheezing. She drops into a half crouch, reaches around his middle, and grabs his belt. With a grunt, she explodes upright, lifting Mako clean off the floor, and with a powerful heave she flings him to her left, into a display case. The glass shatters and metal bends and twists at the force of the impact. Mako hits the floor, groaning, and doesn't get up.

It all happens in seconds, while Asami's trying to catch her breath, trying to figure out which are her arms and which her legs so that she can get up, take a stance, make a fight of it. She's still working that out when P'li starts walking towards her, her steps slow, deliberate. Her eyes are bright in the light of the fires that are spreading above them, to the ceiling now, and her smile is broad and full of teeth.

"Ms Sato...I hadn't hoped to see you again so soon. Or that this would be how you delivered Raava to me. But once again, you confound my expectations. Unfortunately, I fear I have no further use for you, so..."

Asami groans and shakes herself. P'li doesn't have a weapon, but she doesn't really need one. She's only a few feet away from Asami, and Asami is still on the floor, and she needs to _get up_. Asami rolls clumsily, and struggles into a crouch, gasping for air and choking at the quality of what she brings into her lungs. She backs up a pace, feeling behind her, hoping her fingers will find the axe. 

Her fingers find someone else's. A hand gently squeezes hers. A hoarse voice whispers, "Hero's...job...fighting...bad...guys."

Asami looks round to find the Blue Spirit crouched just behind her, clutching at her side. 

"You're in no shape to fight-"

P'li laughs. "Oh, just give up, Raava! You can't even stand!" She screams and rushes at them.

The Blue Spirit gasps, "Go!"

Asami leaps to the side, obeying that voice over her instincts. 

She looks round, as P'li closes in, towering over the injured hero, hoping that she's done the right thing.

And knowing that she hasn't, when she sees that the Blue Spirit is still without her blue glow, that she's only raising her arms in a vain effort to ward off P'li's first attack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes, I'm a bit late! Also did I say this would be the last part of this arc? Er...stories evolve in the writing of them? Next part will be the last part! And it will be coming your way a week on Friday. I think I can guarantee that!
> 
> Thanks for reading (and for your patience)!
> 
> See you next time!


	13. The Lights Go Out Finale

It doesn't take long for everything around Opal to go back to being crazy.

Once the news of the fire gets out, evacuation becomes a priority. That doesn't mean that it doesn't lead to arguments, though. There's the one happening outside this room Opal really, really wants to get out of, where a group of auntie Lin's officers are trying to keep party goers in order while they wait for their chance to escape.

And there's the one inside where Opal's facing down Kuvira and Bolin.

"Nope. Not leaving yet."

Kuvira sighs. "Opal, in a few minutes this place is going to be overrun. We need to move. Now."

Bolin rubs his jaw. "Opal, she's got a point. You're hurt and-"

"And? I promised Asami we'd keep an eye on Papa Sato. We'll go when he goes."

Kuvira looks at Bolin. "They're...bringing him a stretcher. But he has an escort and there's no reason to believe that he's a Red Lotus target. We should-"

"I agree completely," Bolin says, nodding. "But...we can't go. Opal made a promise to Asami, so that's it."

Opal smirks and kisses his cheek. "Thanks, honey."

"I could carry you out," Kuvira says flatly.

"Oh, yeah?" Opal stands up, wobbling only slightly. "You and what army..." She blinks, looking up at Kuvira's unsmiling face. "Okay, yeah. Who am I kidding? You totally could, even if I wasn't hurt. But please don't? Because I'll hate you forever, if you do. And I kinda don't want to hate you, Kuvy."

Bolin stands up. "Oooh, is your nickname Kuvy? Can I call you-"

"No. No one can." Kuvira sighs. "If you get burned to death, that will be much worse than you hating me, Opal. Mostly because I'll probably have burned to death, too."

"Ah, but only _mostly_ , because I'm growing on you," Opal says smugly. She grabs Bolin's hand. "She's a total softie, isn't she?"

"Ha, she really is..." Bolin trails off, his grin becoming strained when Kuvira spikes him with a glare. "A very tough and scary but, uh, fair-minded person? I hope?"

Kuvira rolls her eyes.

Before Opal can respond, the commotion at the door briefly intensifies. A woman pushes past the officers, pauses while she looks around the room, then quickly makes for Opal. She brushes past Kuvira and wraps Opal in a fierce hug. "Darling."

"Hey, mom." Opal hugs her back.

Suyin pulls away, nodding at Bolin. "Bolin. Now...can anyone explain to me why you're still here, Opal? I've just got Lin's permission to move people through...I thought you'd already be out!"

Opal hesitates. "Uh...well, you see...about that! Ah..."

Kuvira says, "I thought it best to...avoid that exit, since...that's where the shooter fled. He hasn't been detained yet. It seemed safer to keep Opal secure here."

"I...see." Suyin studies Kuvira for a second, and smiles a quick, tight smile. "Good, then. What now?"

Opal sucks in a breath. "I think we should-"

She's interrupted by new arrivals, this time coming from the fire exit. Republic City firefighters and a pair of paramedics carrying a stretcher.

Opal sighs in relief. "I think we should let them get Mr Sato set up, then follow them out."

* * *

Korra doesn't pay any attention to P'li as she charges at her. She ignores the flames dripping from the ceiling, the smoke wrapping its fingers around her, the sheen of sweat on P'li's brow, the sheen of something terrible, something broken, in P'li's eyes.

It takes more effort not to focus on Asami, but as soon as she gets clear of Korra's side, Korra forces her attention in the only direction that matters.

Korra's weak. She's still in pain. She still can't find Raava within her. She has absolutely no chance against P'li in her current condition, not without superpowers.

Raava's powers.

Except...except they aren't Raava's powers. They're Korra's, too. Aang said so. Kyoshi said so. And Korra remembers how it felt, earlier tonight, in the shower, when, for a moment, it was just her and the water, flowing as one.

She's never believed, never really _believed_ that she was special. Raava chose her at random, and it was easy to think that Raava was the only thing about her that made her in any way important. It's been easier to think that this is all a phase, a cosmic error, something she has to survive, something she might be able to put aside when this crisis was over.

Korra doesn't truly _want_ to be a hero.

P'li's almost on her. She draws back her fist, ready to strike.

Asami is yelling, trying to double back. Mako is groaning, scrabbling weakly at the tiles and splinters of glass beneath him. Officer Marsh is breathing, but he's out cold, and the fire...the fire will finish anyone P'li leaves upright.

Korra doesn't want to be a hero.

But it's never been about what she wants. This is about accepting who she is.

She raises her arms, beginning the movements that Kyoshi showed her, and reaches deep inside herself, listening to her instincts. She moves her arms, and tells the world who she is -- _Korra_ \-- as fiercely as she can, while she calls for help.

She calls for water.

P'li is on her. Her fist swings, a blur streaking through soot and shadow. It doesn't connect, because a chunk of ice the rough size and shape of a cello hurtles through the air over Korra's arms and slams into P'li, flinging her to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

Korra can feel a grin stretching her lips. "Thanks, weird rich people, for your completely crazy party decorations."

She moves her arms in a new pattern, more certain, more confident, and more chunks of the ice sculpture of the string quartet come to her. She shifts the pattern of her arms, and a violin melts, flowing through the air to her body. She directs the water to her wound, gasping when the water begins to glow and warmth spreads through her chest. She closes her eyes, and tries to feel her way through the damage in her body, and the process of putting herself back together. She's lost a lot of blood, and repairing the bullet wound fully will take more time and energy than she has right now. But she's able to stop the bleeding and begin the healing process, at least.

Korra's eyes snap open when P'li groans, and begins to climb to her feet. She glares at Korra. "I'm going to enjoy putting an end to your tyranny when the time comes, Raava."

"P'li, right?" Her voice is still hoarse, roughened by pain and smoke. Korra deepens it, hardens it, hoping to disguise it as best she can from Asami. "You keep calling me Raava. You really do _not_ know who you're dealing with."

Korra shifts focus, reaching out and summoning more chunks of ice. She launches a barrage at P'li, but the tall woman hunkers down, deflecting the smaller chunks and weaving around the larger ones. She takes a few hits, but they don't stop her, they just slow her.

Korra decides to switch tactics. She calls all the largest remaining pieces of ice to her, melting them in mid air. She weaves the water around her body, even as she weaves her body through the waterbending stances. Then she makes a series of sharp gestures, freezing the water into place as a series of form fitting plates around her torso, her upper arms, her thighs, her calves.

And her fists.

Korra leaps at P'li, and it's a clumsy leap, one burdened by pain, by the weight of her new armour, by fatigue. But Korra calls and the wind answers her, pushing her forward, letting her close the distance quickly. Korra slams her ice-sheathed fist into P'li's jaw with everything she has, and if it isn't much, by her usual standards, it's enough to drop the taller woman to one knee.

Korra lands awkwardly, pain flaring in her body and the strength puddling out of her limbs frighteningly quickly. She aims her fist at P'li, but P'li twitches aside and Korra's blow thumps into her shoulder. P'li rears up, bellowing, and lashes out with her boot. It's all Korra can do to shift her body just enough not to take the blow full on. P'li's kick hits Korra's chest at an angle, sliding off the plane of the ice armour she's created. But even with the armour, and the awkward angle, the force of the blow is astonishing. 

Korra staggers back, breathing hard, sweat sticking her hair to her head and stinging her eyes.

P'li rubs her jaw, slowly smiling. "You should have run, Raava. You can't win this fight."

She takes a quick step forward, but before Korra can even raise her arms, P'li flinches back.

Asami Sato limps into Korra's peripheral vision, her gown torn, her brow smudged with soot, a fire axe in her hands, and a cold fury in her eyes that makes Korra shiver. "She isn't the only one standing against you, P'li." Asami hefts the axe. "Personally, I like our odds."

P'li licks her lips, darting a quick look between Korra and Asami, calculating her chances.

Korra summons her strength and raises her arms into a ready stance. "I _love_ our odds," she rasps.

It takes a lot out of her simply to keep her hands from shaking. 

P'li narrows her eyes, coming to a decision.

* * *

Opal limps behind the firefighters and paramedics carrying Hiroshi on the stretcher.

She's surprised at how little arguing it took to convince her mother and Kuvira to wait for Papa Sato, in spite of the fact that it meant waiting longer than either of them would have liked.

Bolin keeps an arm around her waist as they go down the stairs. Kuvira stays ahead of her, walking beside Suyin.

Kuvira suddenly clears her throat. "Mrs Beifong, I-"

"Su, please." She waves a hand. "I think you've earned that."

Kuvira hesitates, so Opal pats her shoulder and says, "You have."

It's hard to tell, but she thinks Kuvira nods slightly. She pauses another second, until they hit a landing, then says, "Su...do you know where Ms Sato's date, Korra, is?"

Opal winces. "Oh...oh, wow! I, uh, really should have thought of asking that!" Kuvira takes advantage of the turn in the stairs to look back at Opal. Opal meets her eye and makes a face. "I've had a lot on my mind, but I feel awful forgetting her!"

This time, Opal's certain that Kuvira nods, but she has no idea what it means.

Suyin says, "Korra went to get help. She's safely out of all this."

Bolin sighs. "Good. Tonight's been messed up enough already. And I'm still finding out why I like her so much. But you know what? I've been completely right to like her so far!"

"That you have, beloved. Although, I have to say that this entire _day_ has been a nightmare," Opal says, with feeling. "I'm glad it's almost over."

Kuvira coughs. "Not yet it isn't. There's a lot of smoke down there...I can smell it already."

Opal can't, at first, but only a few steps further down, she catches her first whiff and abruptly it becomes the only thing she can smell. She swallows nervously. "I...guess that answers that question."

Bolin squeezes her waist. "What's that?"

"What burning art smells like..."

"Oh, that question, sure." Bolin takes a cautious sniff. "Smells like...smoke?"

Kuvira grunts. "We're almost there. Stay calm."

Opal feels like that's probably decent advice, if completely unreasonable in the circumstances. "I'm...so sorry, mom. All that work, all those lots..."

Suyin sighs. "The main thing now is ensuring that no one else is hurt. We'll...start picking up the pieces tomorrow."

"Well, I'm volunteering for piece-picking up duty. Any way I can be of help."

"That's sweet of you, darling. I'm sure I'll be able to find...something for you to do."

Opal grits her teeth. "Great...I feel useful already."

They reach the bottom of the stairs, and Opal's eyes begin to sting. She tries to ignore the flutter of panic she feels as this latest danger makes itself impossible to ignore.

Bolin squeezes her again. "We'll be out in a minute."

Opal nods. "Right! As soon as the fireman there opens the fire door. Which should be any second now...because they're basically made for each other...right?"

But the firefighter undertaking that task turns away, shaking his head. "It's jammed."

Kuvira tenses. "Break it down."

The firefighter snorts. "No, we'll cut through the lobby. It's not far to the main entrance. People just need to remain calm and move at a steady pace."

Opal exchanges a look with Bolin. "I think I'm beginning to like that idea where we camp out in your place for a month. Going out hasn't been working for me lately."

Kuvira glances back at them. "Stay close to me, but don't stop for any reason. You're getting out of here."

Opal nods. "We all are, Kuvy. We all are..."

One of the firefighters carefully opens the door to the lobby. Fingers of smoke curl around the door, exploring the stairwell, but at least there's no immediate prospect of burning to death.

The paramedics carrying Hiroshi go first. Opal and the others quickly follow them.

* * *

Asami decides not to wait for P'li to make a move.

She lunges at P'li, taking advantage of the mobility allowed her by her shredded skirt. She borrows a trick from the Red Lotus woman and thrusting the axe like a sword, right at P'li's chest. She swats the head of the axe with her left arm, knocking it aside, and Asami lets the force of her own blow carry her forward, rushing past P'li. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees P'li reach for her, but the Blue Spirit springs forward, throwing a punch at P'li's unprotected side.

P'li dodges back, turning on the Blue Spirit.

Asami hauls the axe back and up, over her head, turning her forward momentum into a spin. With a grunt, she uncoils, swinging the axe at P'li's chest.

P'li's eyes widen in shock as she leaps back. "You're getting reckless, Ms Sato. Or is it just desperation?"

"It's frustration. I'm getting tired of dealing with you."

P'li glances behind her, and Asami quickly steps forward. P'li steps back, staying safely out of range. "I imagine you _must_ be frustrated, not knowing what's happening. Not understanding a fraction of what's going on around you."

"Oh, I like mysteries. And puzzles." Asami keeps the axe low. She twirls it in her hands so that the blade is pointing at the ceiling and advances on P'li. "Zaheer has given me a _lot_ of things that I can piece together."

"You're fumbling in the dark, Ms Sato. You'll never-"

Asami bounds towards her and swings the axe in an upward arc as soon as she gets in range. She misses, but she forces P'li to jump back. Asami spins the axe again, reorienting the blade towards P'li. She raises it up above her shoulders.

"What, no more questions? Nothing more to say, Ms Sato?"

"I'll save it for tomorrow's column."

P'li slowly smiles. She drops into a combat stance, and gestures at Asami. "Come on, then."

Asami takes a step forward.

"Wait!" The Blue Spirit suddenly steps into view. She throws out her hands and a blast of air sweeps along the ground, scattering the shards of broken glass Asami was about to step on. "Okay, now...you can kick her ass."

P'li's smiles vanishes.

Asami grins.

She has no idea how the Blue Spirit is upright. She has no idea how she's still fighting, or how she tore apart that ice sculpture, and turned it into armour, or any of the other things she's done tonight. But there's no way she won't be arguing with Tenzin about making the Blue Spirit front page in the _Chronicle_ tomorrow. 

She advances on P'li, who backs up. The Blue Spirit, clad in her ice armour, keeps pace beside Asami. Asami wants to look her way, to make sure that she's really okay, because it seems impossible that she could be, given how badly she was hurt. She wonders what this effort is costing the Blue Spirit. She glances at Officer Marsh's sprawled form. Asami wonders what tonight is going to cost _her_.

She looks towards the Blue Spirit again. She's almost entirely sure it'll be worth it.

Assuming she survives tonight.

P'li slowly retreats, glaring at them. "You can't trust Raava, Ms Sato. You can't trust her at all. She's guilty of crimes that make mine look insignificant."

The Blue Spirit says, in her rasping voice, "You call...murder and...kidnapping...insignificant?"

Asami has to fight to keep her focus on P'li. "Murder? Who-"

P'li laughs. "Her! She's talking about herself, Ms Sato! But was it murder, or self-defence?"

The Blue Spirit snarls something indecipherable and throws out her hands. A gust of air rushes out, displacing the smoke that curls around them all, and slamming into P'li's chest, staggering her.

P'li's back hits the display case she threw Mako into. Which is just about where Asami wants her. Or rather, Asami's almost where _she_ wants to be. Asami takes a breath. She's about to move when a burning roof tile drops down just a few inches in front of her. Asami flinches, stepping back.

P'li roars and charges at her. The Blue Spirit grunts and flings herself at P'li, slamming into the taller woman and knocking her off her stride, but not over. P'li slams an elbow into the Blue Spirit's chest, hard enough to crack the ice she's moulded to her torso. The Blue Spirit is thrown back, and she _does_ fall.

Asami charges in, swinging the axe, but P'li's ready for her, and she ducks and scrambles forward, inside the arc of Asami's swing. The haft of the axe thuds into P'li's shoulder, but it barely slows her. Asami lets go of the axe and twists away, narrowly avoiding P'li's grasping hand. P'li pushes herself upright, shrugging her shoulder, and the axe tumbles through the air. P'li catches it and smiles at Asami. "Time to end this, Ms Sato."

Asami nods. "I agree."

She dives under P'li's swing, rolls under the display case and snatches up the revolver Mako dropped under it. She scrambles out from under the case, stands up and swings on P'li, aiming the gun at her through the broken case.

P'li is standing over Mako, with her axe raised. "Ah-ah! Shoot me, kill him."

Asami takes a breath, and almost chokes. The smoke is becoming a serious problem. Her eyes are watering, and all of her exertions, recent and over the course of the day are taking their toll on her. Her hands are shaking. She isn't sure she can make the shot.

The Blue Spirit begins to push herself upright, but she's moving so slowly...

Asami licks her lips. "If you hurt him, I'll shoot you. Time to cut your losses, P'li."

P'li shoots a glance at the Spirit. She looks at Asami, studying her. "I wonder how long you can keep that weapon on me, Ms Sato. Raava isn't going to be rushing to your rescue this time, by the looks of things."

Asami doesn't look away from P'li. "Keep talking, and I think I'll shoot you anyway. I'm pretty mad at the man you're threatening, so...I'm reassessing the risk factors here."

"You wouldn't..." P'li pauses, tilting her head. "Ha! Perhaps you might!"

For some of the longest seconds of her life, Asami stares P'li down, willing her arms to stay steady.

She isn't sure what move P'li's going to make, until suddenly, the sound of voices and multiple footsteps reach her ears. People from the party are evacuating the building, and some of them have come through the same stairwell Asami did, and are cutting through the foyer. 

P'li chuckles. "Next time, Ms Sato. Next time...will be the last time, I think."

She turns an jogs away, vanishing into a cloud of smoke before Asami can tighten her finger on the trigger. She sighs, and carefully lowers the hammer on the weapon. "I really hate that woman."

"Yeah," rasps the Blue Spirit, who staggers over to the display case and leans heavily against it. "Me, too."

Asami slumps. She's out of adrenaline and now her system's swimming in fatigue toxins. She coughs. "We have to...we have to get out of here. Can you...?"

She isn't sure what she's going to ask, exactly. Can the Blue Spirit help support Mako? Can she even support _herself_ at this point?

The Blue Spirit grunts. "Yeah, I think...I can...help."

She pushes away from the case, sways, but stays upright. She moves her arms through a series of sweeping gestures and the air around them swirls and...somehow seems to separate from the smoke, becoming easier to breathe. Asami blinks a few times, and when her eyes are less blurry, she realises that they're surrounded by clean, flowing air and that the smoke is being pushed away from them.

"Okay, your powers are increasingly astonishing."

"I know...right?" She kneels awkwardly beside Mako. She gestures again, but the motions are different somehow, more...fluid than before. "Can you...check on the...officer?"

Asami goes to Marsh's side and checks his pulse. "He's out...but, he's okay." She looks around, and all she can see is smoke and fire. "As...okay as any of us are."

She turns and sees that the Blue Spirit's armour is gone, melted away. She's directing the ice melt around Mako's head, and just like it did with Opal, it glows as she works.

But something is different this time.

"You're not...glowing. Why?"

"Uh...not sure. But...I really don't...think we have time...for another interview."

Asami winces. "Sorry. Instincts. But you're right. Is...is Mako...?"

"He's okay."

Mako confirms it by groaning and sitting upright. "What...? Oh. Oh, we need to-"

"We're aware, Mako!" Asami sighs and softens her tone. "Do you think you can help me with Marsh?"

"Yeah. Yeah, of course."

He pushes himself upright and totters over to her. He takes a deep, steadying breath, then kneels, and gets an arm under Marsh's shoulders, lifting his torso up with a grunt. Asami glances at the Blue Spirit. She limps slowly to them, keeping a sphere of water contained between her hands. She all but falls to her knees, gasping in pain, but she somehow keeps the water aloft. She gestures, and even though her arms are shaking with the effort, the water flows over Marsh's head, and begins to glow.

After a few seconds, the RCPD officer stirs. "What...ugh. What _hit_ me?" He blinks at Asami. "This time, I mean..."

Asami winces. "The firefighters...at least one of them was Red Lotus. I...am sorry about before, but I couldn't take any chances, officer Marsh."

He blinks again, focusing on the Blue Spirit. "How...you were almost..." He stares at the water hanging suspended in the air. "Uh...okay, I think I want to go home, now."

The Blue Spirit nods, and flicks her wrist, sending the water pattering to the floor. Wearily she mumbles, "Good call."

Mako helps Marsh to his feet, and, supporting each other, they lurch towards the exit.

Asami helps the Blue Spirit up, but when she's standing, the other woman shakes her head. "Go. I...better find...another way out."

"What? No! You're hurt, you can't-"

"Asami...I can't thank you...enough. For what you've done. And I won't...risk you further. You have...other people...to look out for."

Asami bites her lip. It's true, of course. There's Opal and Bolin...and her father. And...Korra. "Promise me. Promise me you're going to be okay. I...need to do a proper interview with you, you know? Like I said, you're going to be famous, but I think I've earned an exclusive."

"Ha! Ow..." She clutches at her side. "Okay, no...no laughing. Sure...I'll see you again...Asami. Deal."

Asami groans. "I don't like this, but...fine!"

She turns away, looking around the floor until she spots the mask P'li dropped earlier. She grabs it and quickly puts it on. She looks back and the Blue Spirit is standing there, watching her, in her bloodied robes and mask. She raises her hand, and Asami thinks she's waving, but air flows around her, past her, a slow, gentle breath of air that parts the smoke behind Asami. She looks around, and catches a glimpse of the main exit. She smiles, and turns to say thank you.

But the Blue Spirit is gone.

* * *

Korra stumbles away from Asami, heading deeper into the hall.

She's half-surprised that Aang doesn't show up to berate her, or Kyoshi to...probably also berate her, but maybe about slightly different things. Korra isn't quite sure what instinct it is that drives her deeper into the heat and acrid, swirling darkness, but something inside her isn't done.

It's hard to think. Or, rather, it's hard to think like she normally does. Korra's never been this tired before; her weariness is so deep her pain is a muted thing, barely scraping at her awareness. But she doesn't feel heavy, or slow. She feels like she's on the brink of sleep, at the point where fatigue begins to slide away but consciousness doesn't fade out so much as it seems to...expand. There's a kind of clarity to be found on that brink, one that Korra's never been able to articulate before, much less utilise.

Korra spots a door through the red-orange murk she's walking through. She pauses. It might lead to an exit. It might not. Korra tilts her head. "I'm not looking for a way out. I'm...not running."

She keeps walking, even though the heat has evaporated the sweat from her skin, even though she knows that if she wasn't purifying the air for herself, she'd be dead. If something doesn't change soon, she'll die anyway. 

The fire is everywhere, and it's devouring _everything_. Korra idly wonders what's been lost already, she wonders how much more will be lost before the real fire service gets here.

The far wall of the museum comes into view. It's just barely visible, a solid patch of darkness against all the shifting orange light and roiling dark the world's been rendered down to.

Korra stops moving. "Oh. _That's_ what I'm doing."

She blinks and Aang is there, looking almost real, but for the corona of blue light that surrounds him. "Korra! Korra, you've done enough for one night! It's time to go!"

"I'm leaving, I just...there's something I think I should take with me." 

Aang's eyes widen. "Oh, no...you can't mean-"

She blinks again, swaying dizzily. Aang is still there, but whatever argument he was going to make remains unsaid. Kyoshi stands beside him. She inclines her head to Korra. "I rather think she does. Good. Show them who you are, child."

Korra chuckles. "I'm not sure if I feel less like myself right now, or the most like myself I've ever been, you know?" Korra takes a breath that almost scalds her lungs. "I _definitely_ can't do this part alone. But I don't have to...do I, Raava?"

Korra closes her eyes.

The last thing she sees is the hall, full of the ghosts of Raava's former companions, and full of flames like hungry mouths, closing in on her.

* * *

Opal loses sight of the door they go through after about five steps. There's more light in the hall than there was in the stairwell, but it's all of the angry, burny variety, and is accompanied by clouds that clog her throat and attacks her eyes. Heat presses down on her, slowly crushing her. She can feel Bolin's arm around her waist. She can see Kuvira supporting her mother ahead of them, but that's it. Hiroshi is already lost to view.

Opal rolls her tongue around her mouth. "This is bad. There are a lot more people behind us. If the other fire doors are jammed..."

Bolin squeezes her. "Hey, uh, have you...uh, given any thought to Corgi names?"

Opal's voice cracks when she tries to answer the first time, and she decides to wait until she's outside before she tries again. It isn't a long walk from the stairs to the main entrance, not really, but it feels like a very long time before the doors come into view.

"This is _nuts_ ," Bolin whispers. "I can't believe...look out!"

It happens faster than either of them has time to process. They're just a few steps away from the exit, where Kuvira waits for them, holding the door, when a burning section of the roof directly overhead falls towards them. Opal looks up when Bolin shouts his warning, and it seems like a mess of flaming debris is going to land right on top of them. Opal hears Kuvira yell, feels Bolin tense up beside her, and she...feels something else, something welling up from _within_ her. She throws up an arm, in a useless gesture, and closes her eyes.

There's a rush of air, a crash, and a dozen tiny stings as sparks settle on her skin, then she's getting yanked forward by Kuvira, and shoved along by Bolin, and suddenly she's outside, in the pavillion set up as a security checkpoint back when the world made slightly more sense this evening.

Bolin says, "Are you okay?"

Opal nods. "Yeah...close one, though. I thought it was going to hit us."

"Close?" Kuvira chimes in, staring intently at her. She nods slowly. "I thought so, too, until...ah, we should get out of here."

Opal checks around her and, seeing her mother, her bodyguard, and her fiancé are all present and intact, she nods. "Right."

On shaking legs, she follows the others into an offensively pleasant night. Auction attendees, police officers, bystanders with their cell phones out and recording, firefighters, and medical personnel mill around the museum's concrete forecourt and the streets beyond.

Opal stands on her tiptoes, ignoring the twinge of pain in her ankle, and cranes her neck, looking for Hiroshi Sato. She spots the paramedics loading him into an ambulance and sighs. She rubs her face, heedless of soot and her makeup.

Suyin sighs. "I...am needed here, but Opal, Bolin, you should both-"

"I can stay, mother! I can help-"

"You can help most by going home and being safely away from all this," Suyin says firmly.

Kuvira quickly says, "I'll arrange a car and get her home, Mrs Beifong. Count on it."

She digs out her phone and starts punching in a number.

Suyin nods and favours Kuvira with a smile, and once again, Opal's cut out of the chance to do something. "I'm not leaving until I know Papa Sato and Asami are okay!"

Kuvira exchanges another look with Suyin before turning to Opal. "Mr Sato will be on his way to Republic General in a minute. And I'm sure Ms Sato is...fine." Kuvira gives Opal a hard look. "I'll stay with you tonight. I'll have the RCPD call us with any updates, Opal. Okay?"

It isn't. Almost nothing about this entire day has been, but Opal knows from the look on her mother's face that she's out of options. She sighs, looking back to the gallery. More people are trickling out of the pavilion at the main entrance, followed by floods of smoke.

Opal looks around, frowning. "Hey...why isn't that fire engine using its hoses?"

Kuvira shakes her head. "I don't know. I hear sirens, though. There must be more incoming. Maybe they're waiting to evacuate everyone."

"Do you think they'll all..." Opal breaks off, unable to ask the question.

Kuvira raises her phone to her ear and looks away.

Bolin puts an arm around her. "I'm sure everything's going to be...Mako!"

"I kinda hope no...oh! Mako!" 

He limps out of the tent, supporting a uniform officer. Bolin glances at Opal who rolls her eyes and shoves him. He takes off at a sprint, reaching Mako's side and helping him support his burden.

Opal pokes Kuvira in the side, nods in Bolin's direction, and takes off after him.

She nods at Mako when she reaches him. "Mako, I'm glad to see you're okay...uh, relatively. How...did things go?"

He shakes his head. "Bad. The first responders are Red Lotus. We tangled with P'li again, and-"

Opal shakes her head. "What? No. No, that can't be...Mako, they just loaded Hiroshi Sato into an ambulance!"

Mako's eyes widen. "Oh, no..."

"Mako, where's Asami? And...uh, our friend?"

The injured officer grunts, lifting his head. "You mean the Blue Spirit? Should be behind us. I'll call in about Hiroshi Sato, make sure that ambulance is on the level, okay?"

Opal clenches her hands, nails digging into her palms.

Mako touches the other cop's arm, stopping him before he can raise his radio to his mouth. "Officer Marsh...about your report..."

He grunts again. "Well, I feel like I've got a concussion, and I may have some memory problems regarding stairwells coming on."

Mako nods. "Thank you."

"Yeah, well...I can't speak for my partner. But I'll speak _to_ him, okay?"

Opal checks out of the conversation at that point, because Asami Sato comes limping into view, hair dishevelled, dress torn, soot on her skin and fire in her eyes. Opal runs to her, closing the distance between them in about a second, barely aware of the pain in her ankle, feeling as light as air the whole way.

She throws her arms around Asami, feeling almost absurdly grateful when Asami leans her weight on Opal for a few seconds. "Hey, you."

"Hey, Opal."

"You okay?"

"I really need a shower. Again."

Opal laughs. "Okay, so...okay. Uh..."

Asami pulls away. "My dad? My...date?"

"He...was, uh, pretty groggy. They...were taking him to the hospital. And...Korra got out, as soon as things went dark. She went for help. Korra's fine."

Asami stares at her. "The hospital? Are you...alright. Alright, I need to-"

"Take a minute. Or several. Rest, okay?"

Asami hesitates, then straightens up, her face closing off. Opal glances round to see Bolin and Mako approaching. Mako looks grim. Bolin looks worse.

Opal groans. "Oh, no. No, no, no, this can't be happening..."

"What?" Asami's voice is tight and high.

Opal stares at her. "I think the Red Lotus have taken your father."

* * *

Asami doesn't fall, but only because Opal's there to prop her up. As soon as Mako's in earshot, she says, "My father?"

Mako shakes his head. "The ambulance was real, but no one's answering the radio, and no one called in saying they were bringing Hiroshi to Republic General." He hesitates. "Might be a bad radio. But...the RCPD are on it. Don't worry Asami."

Worry isn't really an issue. A full-blown panic attack seems more likely. Opal holds her, but is wise enough not to say anything.

Bolin licks his lips. He moves to Asami's other side, gently taking her arm. "Hey, uh, can I ask...what happened to our friend?"

They all stare at her. Asami takes a second to breathe, then offers Bolin a nod. "Ah...she was...better. She...healed herself. I...she told me to leave her in there."

Mako gapes at her. " _What_? That's..." He stares at the building behind them, shaking his head. "I hope she made it out."

She does her best to put confidence into her answer. "I'm sure she did."

Opal murmurs, "I hope everyone does..." She looks up at Asami. "We should go. You're coming with. I hope you'll notice how I didn't ask a question?"

Asami tries to order her thoughts, but there's too much there, running loose and wild in her mind. "I...I need to-"

She's interrupted by the sound of tortured stone.

Mako gasps. "Is the building coming down?"

Opal says, "I don't...see any debris."

Asami looks back, and she doesn't see any debris, either. She sees something else.

A blue glow.

"She's still in there. But what-"

Wind whips up around them, sudden, ferocious, and tearing through the crowd gathered around the gallery, through the pavilion erected outside the entrance, through the entrance, into the main hall. 

It ceases as suddenly as it began, and at first, all Asami can hear are the startled exclamations of everyone around them.

Until, with a sudden roar, a pillar of smoke and flame, wider than a city bus, bursts out of the far side of the gallery and lances up, up into the night sky, a blazing column of black, red, orange, and, at its edges, blue.

Beside her, Opal's jaw drops. "Did...did she just..."

"She blew the fire out of the building. She..." And Asami feels it kindle within her, just when she thought she'd lost it, exactly when she needs it the most: hope. "She's not giving up. The Blue Spirit's not going to let the Red Lotus win."

She looks at Opal, and at Bolin, and then at Mako. She holds his gaze.

He rubs his face, and nods. "Right. And neither are we."

There's still a lot of things Asami doesn't know, a lot of things she fears, but for now, she holds onto her friends, her hope, and watches the light push the darkness back.

* * *

Tenzin pulls into an alley a few blocks from the gallery. He sits for a moment, head tilted, listening to the police scanner. He waits until a fire engine roars past, siren wailing. Then he switches off the scanner, and climbs out of the car. He walks to the end of the alley and leans on the corner, facing east, facing the gallery.

He watches, waiting for something to happen, something he almost dreads, something a part of him has longed for for over twenty years.

According to the scanner, the situation at the gallery is bad. The fire's spreading quickly, the gallery's active fire systems seemingly aren't functioning, and the evacuation isn't complete. The gallery is likely going to be gutted, and there's a possibility that people might die.

Tenzin knows what tomorrow's edition of the _Chronicle_ is going to lead with.

He waits and watches the air around the gallery haze, watches wisps of smoke reach out into the night.

He waits, hoping and dreading, until it happens. When a huge lance of fire punches up into the sky, he closes his eyes for a second, and lets himself ache. Then he opens his eyes, zips up his hoodie and throws the hood over his head. He gets back into his car and starts the engine, pulls out of the alley and turns east.

"I'll get her out of there," he whispers, "I promise, dad."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, friends!
> 
> Many apologies for the overdue chapter. I got stuck. But that is the midseason finale complete! Woo! So you know what THAT means! HIATUS! Yaaaaay! I'm going to leave you hanging for six whole weeks, how exciting is that?!?
> 
> Okay, I'm maybe the only person excited about that...but I need a wee break from this one, and I need some time to figure some plot things out, and it might be nice to get ahead of this story again. So...yeah! Hiatus! But we'll be back, never fear! :)
> 
> Come yell at me in the comments!


	14. New Sheriff In Town Pt. 1

Benny Yuen has been a cab driver in Republic City for almost five years. He's heard his share of weird things in that time: there are some people who climb into the back of a cab and start talking like they're in a confessional. Sometimes they're annoying, sometimes a little scary, but mostly they're sad. Benny figures that people like that have no one else they can just...be themselves around, and sometimes they need a stranger so they can let some of their weirdness out.

He's had his share of awkward customers alright, but he's never had one of _those_ fares. One of those legendary stories that the veteran drivers of the Republic City Taxi Association like to bust out in those indeterminate hours when the shift's about to change, and a half-dozen drivers are huddled around the cheap heater in the garage.

Elvis in the back of the cab. Fares who pay for their ride in gold coins. Fortune tellers who made uncannily accurate predictions. A man who old Jimmy Wong claimed was the long-missing heir to some wealthy family that left Republic City years ago, thinking their missing son dead. The woman with the suitcase full of cash, desperate to get to the airport.

Benny suspects that most of those stories are either complete fabrications, or at least greatly exaggerated. But they make for much better stories than the marital indiscretions, broken hearts, and broken dreams that make up Benny's most memorable experiences in the cab.

Benny isn't expecting tonight to be special, either. True, there's a big party going on at Republic City University's main campus, but that just means dealing with drunk kids half his age. Benny's mostly worried about getting to the end of his shift without drunk kids leaving too much of a mess in his cab. 

So when a woman wearing cargo pants and a baggy hoodie flags him down, Benny doesn't think much of it, even though it's a mild night and the woman is wearing gloves and has her hood up. It's only 8pm, there's not too much danger that she'll be drunk. He pulls over, waits until she's inside and the door's closed, then looks at her in the rear view mirror and asks, "RCU, right?"

The woman's meets his eye, and Benny's mildly surprised to see that she's wearing a domino mask under her hood. "Uh, sure? Take the bridge, though."

Benny blinks. "It'd be quicker to take 5th and use the tunnel-"

The woman tilts her head, as if listening to a voice only she can hear. "Uh...nope, I need you to take the bridge. And...oh, hey, first time I've said this! Step on it..." She looks down, reading his name of his license. "Benny!"

He's about to protest when she holds up a hundred dollar bill. "Nothing illegal, just quick as you can!"

Benny shrugs. He doesn't get excited by or attached to the money. "Okay, you got it. Nothing illegal, but quick as I can." He pulls away from the curb, hangs a left, and accelerates into the night. "So, I didn't know it was a fancy dress thing, this party."

"Huh?" The young woman looks up from where she's rooting around in a small rucksack. "Oh! Uh, yeah...the kind of party _I'm_ going to, fancy dress is a must."

"So...who are you?"

"Um, excuse me, but anonymity is sort of the point, Benny!"

Benny resists the temptation to roll his eyes. College kids. At least this one's sober. "No, I meant who are you dressed up as? Other than the mask, the outfit is...pretty casual?"

"You think? Oh! No, this isn't my outfit! Haha, right, I can see why you were confused!"

To his surprise and dismay, the woman begins to pull off her hoodie.

"Miss! You can't get changed..." 

He trails off when he catches a glimpse of what's _underneath_ the hoodie: it looks an awful lot like a kevlar vest, criss-crossed with tactical webbing holding a variety of pouches and pieces of gear, including a radio and a flashlight. As far as he can see, everything has been painted green, other than her bare arms which are slim, but muscular.

" _This_ is my outfit!" The woman says cheerfully. "It's...a bit of a work in progress, so I'd really appreciate your honest feedback, Benny."

Benny stares straight ahead, focusing on the road and on trying to control his suddenly racing heart. "Oh...well, uh...it's...very..." And suddenly he remembers an article he read in the _Chronicle_ a while back, and understanding dawns. Benny relaxes, looking up and smiling at his passenger through the mirror. "Oh! You're that superhero! You're the Blue Spirit, right?"

"What?! _No_ , I...come on, I have a jade green colour scheme! And my outfit is an actual outfit! She wears a ratty old hoodie. And it isn't even blue! I can't believe you'd..." She trails off, and sadness enters her voice. "Besides...no one's seen her in over six weeks. Not since...the gallery fire. Oh, hey we're coming up on the bridge. Right. Here we go..."

Benny frowns as he becomes aware of sirens and flashing lights in the distance. Traffic getting onto the bridge is backing up, too, forcing Benny to come to a stop. "Hey, I can still double back, try for the tunnel? This looks like it might be trouble..."

"Yeah. That's what I'm here for." The woman slips the hundred into the pay slot. "Wish me luck, Benny!"

"Wait, what?" Benny turns in his seat, startled.

The young woman taps her ear, and Benny notices the ear piece connected to the radio-thing on her vest. "Break in at a Future Industries warehouse. High speed pursuit, and the crooks are making for this bridge. Sounds a lot like the Red Lotus, so..." She quickly stuffs her hoodie into her pack, and slings it over her shoulder. "Time for me to make a memorable entrance. Thanks for the ride!"

She opens the door and springs out of Benny's cab. She dumps the rucksack on the ground, grabs the waistband of her cargo pants, and pulls sharply. Velcro seams split, and the cargo pants come away to reveal green and black yoga pants. The woman stuffs her...other legwear into her pack, and slings it over her shoulder.

A second later, she pokes her head back in the cab and says, "I'm the Jade Shade, by the way! I'm the new hero in town. It was nice meeting you, Benny. Have a good one!"

She slams the door behind her and takes off running through the stalled traffic, heading for the centre of the bridge. Benny bites his lip, staring after her. He looks around, and sees that more cars have come to a stop behind him, boxing him in. He looks at the hundred dollar bill. He thinks about the next gathering around the heater, at the end of his shift, six hours from now.

Benny shuts off his engine, grabs his phone out of the dock, and goes after the story.

* * *

Opal ignores the adrenaline as best she can, jogging rather than sprinting onto Temple Bridge. On her left, cars stream past rapidly, uncomfortably close. On her right, on the other side of a concrete divider, the traffic is halted and the sound of horns being blasted in frustration is almost loud enough to drown out the sirens.

But not quite loud enough to mask the gunfire.

Opal breathes steadily, and cinches the straps of her rucksack as tight as she can.

According to the reports on the police scanner, five men broke into a Future Industries warehouse and made off with unspecified engineering equipment in a white eighteen-wheeler. They tripped a silent alarm, or else they woulf have gotten away clean. As it is, the RCPD are in pursuit, but the men on the truck are armed, and they've opened fire on the pursuing officers.

It feels like it takes a lot more than two minutes before the speeding truck comes into sight. Opal's breathing a little more heavily, and she's beginning to sweat, and that's a concern. Opal's been taking martial arts classes since she was a kid; it's how she met and befriended Asami Sato, and she fell in love with the discipline and the beauty of the forms of Wu Shu. But while there was a period there where she didn't train as much as she used to, martial arts giving way to hobbies like free climbing and swimming. Opal thought she was still a pretty good fighter, though, and that she was in pretty good shape.

And then she met her would be kidnapper, P'li, and the man who almost killed her, Zaheer, and Opal decided pretty good was no longer good enough. Especially with what _else_ happened to Opal the night of the disaster at the gallery. She's been working hard to improve her condition, and expand her skills, but she's still not where she'd like to be, physically.

As the huge truck looms larger and larger ahead of her, Opal hopes she's good enough. She angles to her left, around the end of a speeding car, and plants herself in the middle of the lanes, in the direct path of the truck. Cars swerve around her, horns shrieking, but though she's buffeted by the air displacement, Opal stays exactly where she is, staring at the oncoming truck.

The driver and another bad guy holding a shotgun stare back at her.

"Oookay, that thing is really big and really fast!" She shakes her gloved hands out, then unfastens one of the pouches on her utility...no, her _superhero_ harness. "Nothing a Jade Shade Special can't handle! I hope. Oh, this would be an embarrassing way to go..." Opal takes a deep, deep breath. "I've practiced this a ton of times! Twice successfully, even! Against...stationary targets."

Before her nerve can fail her completely, Opal raises her hand to her mouth, and blows on the mound of green glitter she took from her super-pouch. Her breath blows the particles of glitter out into the air a short distance in front of her. 

Then a powerful wind roars out from her outstretched hand, and the glitter flies through the darkness, spreading out, and spatters over the windshield of the truck, obscuring the driver's vision completely. The driver hits the brake, slowing the vehicle, which swerves drunkenly back and forth across two lanes as the driver fights to keep control.

Opal gasps with relief, then takes off at a sprint, right for the truck. "Wind powers...we've had our ups and downs. We've...had a _lot_ of downs, but really-seriously-I-mean-it-this-time: wind powers _activate_!"

She jumps. Her muscles carry in her an arc that would end in a very painful, quite probably fatal, collision with the grill of the truck. The wind lifts her up and over the cab. Opal twists in midair and lands in a crouch on the cargo container on the back of the truck.

"Yes!" Opal punches the air. "Nailed-"

The truck swerves again, and Opal yelps when she loses her balance and is thrown over the side of the vehicle. She grabs onto the top of the truck and sways out into open space, fingers and wrists straining to maintain her grip. She's allowed a giddy instant of triumph when she realises she isn't going to fall, before she swings back, slamming into the side of the truck, hard enough to break what she hopes is just her flashlight.

"Ow! Ouch! _Aaaah_! N-not fair!"

Opal scrabbles frantically with her feet, bracing herself against the side of the truck and taking some of the strain off her wrists. She takes a second to breathe, and gather her strength.

Then she looks left, and sees the driver in his wing mirror, glaring at her. He swings the wheel, and the truck moves towards the concrete divider.

She looks right, and at the rear of the truck, less than twenty feet from her, a squat man leans around the end of the container, levelling a machine pistol at her.

Opal wills her right hand open. She reaches down, tugs her broken flashlight from its strap, and hurls it at the gunman a split second before he opens fire. The swaying of the truck and his precarious position makes aiming a difficult prospect, but he tries to make up for that with the sheer volume of bullets he pumps out.

Opal only has one flashlight, and the odds of her hitting her target from this range--even if she wasn't clinging to a speeding truck that's an instant away from smooshing her lower half into a concrete barrier--aren't great. But while the gunman is counting on luck, Opal's counting on her superpower.

And, admittedly, a _lot_ of luck.

Bullets spang against the metal of the container around her, and hiss like angry serpents tongues around her, but she isn't hit. The flashlight flies straight and true on a path that will take it past the shooter, until Opal yells and sweeps her free arm. A gust of wind catches the flashlight, curving it through the air so that it smacks into his forehead.

He cries out, staggers back, and tosses his gun so that he can clutch at the rear of the container. Someone inside the truck hauls him to safety before he can fall, something Opal only catches out of the corner of her eye because she's busy scrambling desperately back onto the top of the container.

She makes it just before the truck hits the divider. The jolt sends her sliding across the roof of the container on her stomach, digging in desperately with her hands and feet to avoid falling off the other side. Opal clings to the top of the container, gasping, her head and shoulders hanging in empty air. 

"Ha...haha...nailed-"

Bullets tear through the metal to her right, a few inches short of her position. Opal gasps, and hauls herself back onto the roof. She pushes herself up into a crouch, making herself as small as possible, as more bullets shriek and tear through the thin metal in front of and around her.

"Okay, no...that's fair. I had that coming." Opal narrows her eyes. Her ears are ringing from the cacophony of lead against steel, but she still catches the telltale sound of magazines being ejected. She pushes off the second she hears it, sprinting the length of the container, lips pressed into a determined line.

More shots rip up around her, but she keeps on running, trying not to think about all the armour she isn't wearing on her legs. As she nears the end of the container, Opal slows down, tugs a container from her superhero belt, cracks it open, and tosses it ahead of her. 

A clump of powdered chili hits the air, and begins to spread out. Opal moves her hands, focusing intensely, and the wind whips up, turning the clump into a mist of chili powder and curving it down and back, pushing it through the open doors of the cargo container.

The shooting below her stops, and she hears yelling and cries of pain below her.

Opal grins, until another bullet whizzes past her. She blinks, refocusing her attention past the end of the truck, and sees the strobing lights of a dozen pursuing police vehicles. One overzealous officer is leaning out of his window, firing at the truck, and whether he's firing at Opal or the thieves below her, it won't make much difference if he hits her.

Opal doesn't have time to worry about that, though, because she's run out of truck. She dives off the end of the vehicle, grabs the upper edge of the rear of the container, and swings herself down and around into it. She slams feet first into a gunman who is rubbing frantically at his tear-streaked face, hurling him back into a huge crate. There's a Future Industries logo stamped prominently on the side of the crate facing Opal, and there are a lot more crates packed into the container.

Opal lands in a crouch. "Oh, cool! I got the right truck! That would've been awkward if I hadn't."

The man she just hit slides down the crate to the floor. The squat guy from earlier, tears streaming down his face, tries to aim a revolver at her. She can hear movement behind some of the crates further back, too, where she supposes the last one is taking cover.

Opal pulls a pair of expandable batons from her superhero harness, and flicks her wrists, extending them. She rushes revolver boy, hitting the inside of his wrist with one baton, knocking his arm out wide and sending his weapon tumbling out into the night for the second time. Opal smacks him behind the knee with her other baton, dropping him down, and whips her first baton back, across his jaw, putting him out.

She scrambles past him, to the near side of a crate she hopes is full of bullet proof engineering gear, and ducks down. She wipes sweat from her brow, and tries to catch her breath.

Deeper in the container, behind yet more crates, she hears more movement, and hoarse voices. Opal grips her batons, and readies herself to move, when suddenly harsh white light floods the back of the truck, accompanied by the roar of a helicopter's rotors.

A voice, amplified and distorted by a loudspeaker, booms out. "BLUE SPIRIT! THIS IS LIEUTENANT SAIKHAN OF THE SPECIAL TASK FORCE! STAND DOWN AND SURRENDER! RED LOTUS GANG! STOP THE TRUCK, OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE!"

Opal squints through the light to see a grey police helicopter hovering behind and slightly above the truck, keeping pace with them. She grits her teeth, and looks away. "I look nothing like her! I have a _colour scheme_! And a mask! And an awesome superhero harness!"

Ahead of her, the still conscious thug opens fire on the police vehicles closing in behind them. Before the police start shooting back, and Opal's caught in the crossfire, she slips around the side of the crate, keeping low, fear and anger like current surging in her veins.

The last man in front of her is on her right, one crate back and apparently unaffected by her chili powder. He's firing past her, but the second she comes into view, he right startles, switching his aim. Opal rushes forward, diving into a slide, legs first, that takes her past the thug's crate, under his gun. She lashes out with one baton, hitting his thigh, making him cry out and lose interest in trying to shoot her for a few seconds.

Her lead foot hits another crate, and Opal curls her legs, then pushes hard, driving her elbow into the steel floor. The air whips up around her, helping her lift up and spin around so that she's standing with her right side facing the man she just hit.

She hurls one baton at him, making him duck, and closes in. He raises his arm, aiming his machine pistol at her, but she's faster, and she brings her baton down on his arm before he's lined up his shot. Opal yanks a canister of pepper spray from her harness. She sprays his face when she gets in range, and he drops his gun, crying out in pain.

Opal grabs his collar and jams her baton up under his throat. "Zaheer! Where can I find him?"

"I...don't...know," he gasps.

Opal grits her teeth. "Great! Then where was this truck going?"

"I...warehouse...lower east-"

"Ahem." Opal cuts him off with a brief instant of additional pressure to his throat. "So, we both know that was a lie, designed to throw me off track, and there'll be nothing there or maybe a trap, because that's how you jerks work. Can we maybe get some truth out of you? Because I don't want to have to threaten to-"

Outside, a voice blares, "LAST CHANCE!"

The thug gasps, "Truth!"

"Yes?"

"W-warehouse 17, lower east side! I w-wasn't...lying! Please stop...hurting me."

"Huh." Opal eases up on the pressure. "Are...you going to maybe wait until my back is turned, and jump me?"

"N-no...can't...breathe...just want to...go to prison now."

"Oooookay..." Opal prods him suspiciously with tip of her baton. "Are you new to the Red Lotus, or something?"

"Y-yeah...and...it _sucks_."

Opal sighs. She collects her other baton, and collapses them both, then puts them away. "It really does. Okay, so-"

Gunfire chews through the roof of the container, punching into the crates around her, sending splinters flying and filling the air with a hammering din. Opal staggers back, falling against another crate. The thug drops flat, whimpering, and curling into a ball.

"Oh, crap! Seriously?"

There's a loud bang from behind her, and the truck shudders and rocks violently, back and...more back, because the truck isn't rocking, it's _tipping_ over.

" _Seriously_?!"

Opal starts running, darting round the side of one crate, and in-between two others. Which starts to look like a mistake, when the floor stops being the floor and the wall to her right starts to become the roof, and the crate to her right starts sliding towards her.

There's a stomach-twisting moment of dislocation as the whole truck seems to balance for a second, before rolling all the way over. It's in that moment that Opal hurls herself forward, screaming, and the wind picks her up and carries her away from the crates about to crush her, through the open doors of the container before the momentum of the truck's flip can slam one of them into her, and lands her heavily on the hood of a car.

For a moment, she just lies there, lungs burning, bruised ribs protesting, nerves jangling as she clings to the vehicle as best she can. "O-okay...nailed it _that_ time, right?"

She forces herself to look up. She's on a moving car. A moving _police_ car. Opal gapes through the window of what she realises must be one of the new Task Force's vehicles, a realisation made possible because she recognises the driver: her basically-brother-in-law Mako. "Maaaaaybe not, then."

Mako gapes back at her, but evidently has enough presence of mind to ease up on the gas before he plows into the back of the skidding truck. His partner, Shen, a practical-minded individual, points her gun at Opal through the windshield.

The helicopter's spotlight sweeps over her and that obnoxious voice bellows, "BLUE SPIRIT! DO NOT MOVE!"

Opal clutches at the hood of the slowing car, and looks over her shoulder. They're almost at the end of the bridge. The truck screeches across the blacktop in a shower of sparks, and though it's slowing, it still has a lot of momentum. The distance between the truck and Mako's car is minimal, but widening as he decelerates.

The truck itself is headed for the line of stalled traffic coming onto the bridge, where she left Benny less than five minutes and several lifetimes ago. Where a group of drivers are clustered, watching the events unfolding, and far too slowly waking up to the danger heading their way.

Opal groans. "Don't be crazy, Opal! Oh, who am I kidding?" She gathers herself, tensing her muscles. She grins sheepishly at Mako and says, "NOT BLUE SPIRIT! JADE! SHADE!"

Then she turns away, pulling herself up into a crouch, and readies herself to leap from the hood of Mako's car. To her surprise, the car jerks when Mako taps the accelerator, narrowing the gap between Opal and the truck. Opal doesn't stop to weigh the implications of Mako's behaviour, she just takes advantage of the situation, and jumps.

When Opal realised that, after that night in the gallery, she had a superpower, it took her almost five minutes to get over the shock of her new reality. Since then, she's been focused on how awesome it is to have the power to control the freaking _air_.

It is extremely awesome. When it works.

For whatever reason, when she jumps from the hood of Mako's Task Force car, the wind doesn't pick up around her, doesn't propel her forward. Instead of floating up to the top of the truck, Opal finds herself slamming into the closed over container door hanging down from what is now the top of the truck. She wraps her hands around the locking mechanism, swaying back and forth, and clinging on desperately. She notices one of the thugs inside the container is right below her, on his hands and knees, head sticking out the back of the truck as he throws up.

"I feel ya, baddy!" Opal says, with as much sympathy as she can muster for a murderous thief. "Now...hold still one second!"

She plants one foot on the lower edge of the door, the other on the head of the unfortunate thug, and releases her grip on the locking bar, kicking hard. She vaults up, grabs the upper edge of the container, and clambers back atop the truck. She pulls herself upright, and starts running for the front of the truck.

She waves her arms at the people still clustered around the parked cars, many with their phones out, taking pictures of the truck heading right for them. Opal yells, "MOVE, PEOPLE!"

She grits her teeth in frustration and _pushes_ that frustration out through her arms. A wind blasts out ahead of her, sending stinging chips of concrete and sparks from the shrieking truck at the people mere metres away. Several people flinch, and stumble back, lowering their phones. Even the dumbest of them seem to realise that they're standing in the wrong place, and that finding somewhere else to stand is probably a good idea.

Opal worries that they won't all make it in time. She worries about the damage this truck will cause when it hits those cars, because even though it's slowing, it still has a _lot_ of momentum. She worries about the crooks in the cab of the truck, because they're crooks, but they don't deserve to _die_. And they will, when the truck hits those cars.

She narrows her eyes, and jumps from the edge of the container to the cab of the truck. She lands awkwardly, falling to her knees, and having to grab the wing mirror to stop herself from falling off altogether. She looks down through the side window, and sees the two crooks tangled in a heap below her.

Opal looks up, and sees that they're about to crash. She doesn't have time to save the crooks. She isn't sure she has time to save herself. She gathers her legs under her, and tries to work out a non-fatal direction in which to jump.

"If this goes wrong...I'm sorry, Bolin."

Water drips on her head.

Opal blinks, and looks up. An enormous spout of water is rising up over the end of the bridge. It bends at a sharp angle above her, dripping, then comes crashing down in a wave between the truck and the line of cars.

A dark-clad woman emerges from the water, landing in a crouch. She's wearing black leggings, a black hoodie, and a black coat that reaches her mid-thigh. Her hood is up and she has a blue scarf wrapped around the lower half of her face, but even with that, and even if she isn't surrounded by glowing light, there's no mistaking who it is.

Opal gasps. "Oh! Oh, _yeeeesssss_!"

The woman rises up, arms moving in a series of flowing gestures. The water freezes in an instant, forming a curving wall of ice between the truck and the cars. The truck hits the outer edge of it a split second later, shattering it with a jolt that almost knocks Opal loose.

She thinks the truck's going to plow right through the ice, but the woman on the bridge isn't done. She shifts stance, her movements becoming more stiff and forceful. The road surface shifts, ridging up around the truck, squeezing both sides, slowing it and angling it away from the cars. The truck crunches through the ice, shuddering, shaking, and shrieking as it demolishes it, but the truck slowly turns, shedding momentum.

The woman on the bridge is directly in the path of the truck, now. She stamps her foot, thrusts out both her fists, and two pillars of stone lance out of the ground in front of her, slamming into the grill of the truck. It jolts at the impact, but it grinds through the pillars, crumbling them to dust. With one last groan, and a fresh shower of sparks, the truck plows through the base of the pillars and comes at last to a ponderous halt six inches away from the dark-clad woman. Sparks fall in a shower around her, but they twist aside when they get close to her.

Not a single spark touches the woman on the bridge.

Opal slowly relaxes her grip on the wing mirror. "Yeah...right, I stand corrected. _That_ is how you make an entrance!" She notices people coming back to their cars, and to the remnants of the ice wall, her taxi driver among them. Opal stands up on slightly shaky legs and cups her hands around her mouth. She shouts, "Hey, Benny! I told you, I'm the Jade Shade! And _this_ is the Blue Spirit!"

A buzz of excited voices greets that announcement cameras start flashing.

The Blue Spirit snaps, " _Get down from there_!"

A spotlight illuminates them both as the RCPD helicopter roars overhead. Behind them, sirens wail and a multitude of flashing lights converge on them.

Opal gulps. She hops off the cab, landing lightly beside her...colleague in superheroics. "For the record, I've totally got this, but...do you have a plan you wanted to try?"

As an answer, the Blue Spirit slices the flat of her hand through the air. The top of the wall of ice beside them breaks off and leaps skyward. She clenches her fist and the chunks of ice crack and split into smaller slivers. She makes a sweeping motion with her other hand, and a gust of wind lifts the particles of rock dust and ice shards over their heads, swirling them into a thick cloud that blocks the helicopter from view.

" _Between the truck and what I did to the road, the bridge is blocked. Let's move before they blow away our cover._ "

"Okay, yeah, let's go with your plan, then," Opal says weakly. "It's, uh, nice to meet you, by the way! I'm the Jade Shade?"

The Blue Spirit snorts, and takes off at a loping run, at a pace Opal struggles to match. " _I know who you are._ "

They run from the bridge, the Blue Spirit leading. She turns down an alleyway, runs through it back onto a main road, across that to another alley, and this time, instead of running the length of it, she accelerates to a sprint and jumps, grabbing the ladder of a fire escape. She scrambles nimbly up the ladder, and up, up, onto the roof of the building above them.

Opal groans, her chest heaving. "Must...do...more...cardio."

It takes her a bit longer, and is a lot less impressive looking, but she manages to make it to the rooftop, in spite of all the aches and pains announcing themselves to her as her adrenaline and endorphin high finally tapers off. Opal's catching her breath and rubbing gingerly at her sore ribs when the Blue Spirit grabs her and hustles her into the shelter of an air conditioning unit.

Opal takes a second to breathe, then puffs out, "Hey, so...thanks for the save back there. I-"

" _Answer a question real quick?"_

"Uh...sure?"

" _HAVE YOU COMPLETELY LOST YOUR MIND, OPAL?_ "

Opal winces. "O-oh...you guessed my secret identity? That was fast..."

The Blue Spirit folds her arms. " _You told me you were going to call yourself Jade Shade. Remember? I thought it was a joke!_ "

"Riiight! I did do that, didn't I? Well, that's...a relief, I-"

" _Also, your mask covers basically none of your face? I knew who you were before you told me your name. Uh, your...hero name. Or alter ego. Or whatever. That's not the important part!_ "

Opal flushes. "At least I have a mask! Not just a...scarf on my face! Though...you have upgraded the look a bit. Which is good." Opal wilts slightly under the other woman's glare. "Um...do you like my vest? It's bulletproof! And...green?"

The Blue Spirit sighs. Her voice softens. " _Opal...you can't just rush into this kind of thing like you did tonight. A lot of things could've gone wrong, and-_ "

"I didn't _rush in_ , I've been working up to this for over a month! Besides, don't _you_ rush in all the time, Korra?! I seem to recall you were...less than...perfect...crap!"

Opal claps her hands over mouth.

The Blue Spirit stares at her. Then she reaches up, and unwinds her scarf.

"Uh...hey, Opal," Korra says, smiling nervously, her voice merely human again. "Um...it's been awhile! Sooo...how've you been?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, well, well...looks like this fic is back!
> 
> We'll be sticking to a fortnightly update schedule as we embark on the next phase. And we'll be catching up with Asami next time, promise! I'm sure you have questions, speculation, complaints, or possibly just emoji, any and all of which I invite you to share with me in the comments below!
> 
> Thanks for reading, folks! See you soon!


	15. New Sheriff In Town Pt. 2

Qi Ruma does not feel very secure.

It might be considered ironic, given that she's working as a security guard at Republic City's largest industrial park. But while Ruma is fairly new to adulthood--and quite phobic of the concept--she has come to suspect that feeling completely unsuited to responsibility of any kind while trying to assure everyone around you that you can handle it is the _definition_ of being an adult.

Ruma is walking a more or less random route through the mostly quiet warehouses around her. When she passes lot 15 she dutifully radios her coworker in the security shack. "Quiet so far. Just making my way past fifteen."

Scott Wallace answers after a long delay. "Hey, Rookie? How about, if you have nothing to report...don't report. I'm trying to nap here."

Ruma flushes. "I've been working here for over six months, Scott! I'm not a rookie. I shouldn't even be on first patrol. It's your turn!"

"Your name is literally Ru Qi! You are forever going to be the rookie around here, which means...it's your patrol."

Her parents are wonderful people, in their way, but Ruma does sometimes wish they had never fallen in love. That way she could have avoided the horrible nickname that has dogged her for most of her life. It's been worse since she started working for Sleep Tight Security, but the stubborn defiance that made her apply for the job in the first place has kept her in it, barely. 

Her stubbornness seems to increase in direct proportion to her misery, which has made the last few years a bumpy ride. Her parents wanted her to be a doctor, but Ruma dug in her heels and told them she was going to be a sculptor, instead. By working this security gig, and two other jobs, and not sleeping anywhere near enough, Ruma can just barely afford to study art, on her own terms, and even though her parents are probably unhappy because they can sense how unhappy _she_ is, Ruma's stubbornly been sticking to her path.

As it turns out she really isn't very good at sculpture, but that doesn't seem like a good enough reason to give it up yet. Quitting now would feel too much like...quitting.

"My name is _Ruma_ ," Ruma explains patiently, and for the hundredth time to Scott. "Chinese father, Indian mother. Qi Ruma. Qi as in _kay_ , not key."

"Yeah, so...you have a patrol to do, I have this nap I need to get to...I'm switching this thing off. Bye, Rookie!"

"That's not protocol! Scott!"

There's no answer. The radio is silent.

It's a mild night, and Ruma's bundled up in her uniform, a sweater, and her far too large site jacket, but that's not enough to prevent a shudder running through her. She suddenly wishes that she had accepted Alexis' invitation to the party tonight, but she needs the money from this shift, and she hates parties almost as much as hates the idea of making a fool of herself in front of Alexis. 

Ruma reminds herself that the worst she's ever had to deal with on the job has been breaking her glasses when she startled an angry cat she thought might have been a criminal. But, her inner monologue replies, that doesn't mean that the next time she sees something moving in the shadows, it won't lead to something worse than needing electrical tape to hold her glasses together and a band aid for her bitten hand. Ruma keeps walking, passing lot 16 without noticing anything.

Her hand reaches for her radio, then falls back to her side. Even if Scott is...not a nice man, having someone on the other end of the radio is reassuring. It makes the night seem less dark, the shadows less ominous, the occasional scarred, six-foot tall men standing outside warehouse 17 glaring suspiciously at her through a haze of cigarette smoke slightly less intimidating.

Ruma blinks up at the scarred, six-foot tall man standing outside warehouse 17 glaring suspiciously at her through a haze of cigarette smoke. He is very intimidating. She decides to armour herself in friendliness. "Um...hello! Are you finishing a long day, or just getting started?"

It isn't exactly _weird_ to find people around here during the night, but the door to the warehouse is ajar, and no light is spilling out. And that is a bit strange, to find people apparently working in the dark. Ruma's fingers itch and she has to fight the impulse to reach for her useless radio.

The scarred man takes a leisurely drag on his cigarette, lazily studying Ruma with cold, hard eyes. A latticework of puckered white flesh around the corner of his mouth makes it look like he's sneering at her. "This is not you security people's normal patrol pattern. You shouldn't be here at this time."

"Oh, I don't really follow a...pattern...um." Ruma's heart begins to hammer and her mouth goes dry. She wants to go for her phone, but it's impossible to get into her pockets in this jacket without it making a lot of very obvious noise. She backs up a step. "Why would you know that?"

He shrugs. "Professionalism. But you can't always prepare for life's little surprises. One must simply embrace them when they come along, don't you think?"

Ruma backs off another step, glancing quickly around. If she can back off just a little more, she can duck round the corner, and run, and get her phone, and get help, maybe from a _real_ adult. 

When she looks back at the scarred man, he's grinding the cigarette out with his heel while calmly screwing what Ruma supposes must be a silencer onto what looks very much like a pistol. Ruma freezes for a second, then realises that she's wasting precious running time. She turns and takes one step, colliding face first with an even taller, bulkier, bearded, _somehow even more scarred_ man who clamps a hand on her shoulder. It's so heavy and strong that it has the same paralysing effect on Ruma that thinking about the debt she's accumulated usually does.

The bearded man addresses his colleague over Ruma's head. "We're blown. The truck's been seized. We need to move out. What are we doing with her?" 

He doesn't even look at her.

Ruma cranes her neck, looking back at the scarred man. He smiles almost sadly at her. "She's seen our faces."

"I have the worst memory for faces," Ruma blurts. "I saw this one girl, Alexis, three different times at the cafe I work in, and every time I was trying to figure out how to maybe introduce myself to her, but...I'd already served her all those times! Turns out we were at the same high school, too! I n-never did figure out what to say to her...I just took her order. She talked to me, though...that's how I found out we went to school together. She's really nice like that."

The scarred man nods. "Yes, you don't seem the type to take the plunge. Bad as your memory may be, though..." He looks past her. "Bring her inside. We'll do it there."

It occurs to Ruma that she's about to die, but that's not what makes her struggle and flail against the bearded man who drags her into the warehouse. Instead there's the stinging realisation that all the things that Ruma has let go unsaid might never get to be said. It doesn't scare her, it ignites that stubbornness inside her, making her shout, "What do you mean, I don't seem the type! You don't know me! I could be the type! I could be all kinds of types!"

Her struggles don't help her. The bearded man just wraps his arms around her and carries her effortlessly into the warehouse. It's dark inside, but not entirely. An electric lamp illuminates a table and chairs where another two men are playing cards. They watch incuriously as Ruma is carried past them. She can see that there are more guns sitting on the table. The light from the lamp was blocked from the doorway by the side of a large van. Another van is parked in front of it, and both vehicles have their doors open and ready.

Ruma gets dumped on the floor of the warehouse, and the air leaves her lungs and the fight leaves her heart. "I...wanted to be a sculptor," she says uselessly.

The scarred man levels his gun at her head. "Well, at least you'll be returning to the clay."

"I think you're thinking of pottery, my thug," a new voice declares. A young woman steps into the edge of the light that the lamp casts, near the two men at the table. Her hands are fists at her sides, but it doesn't look like she's holding any kind of weapon. She's wearing what looks like a green kevlar vest, green and black yoga pants, a black domino mask, and an easy grin on her face. "Don't sculptors use stone or metal or...ooh, hey, 3D printing, even? Maybe the nice lady is a coder!"

The scarred man blinks. He points the gun at the young woman's head. "Life's little surprises, eh? First, you _can_ sculpt in clay. And second: who might you be, moron?"

"Oh! Right! Red Spirit thugs, I'm the Jade Shade! It's nice to meet you, and it'll be even nicer to see you put behind bars!"

Ruma looks around quickly. The two men at the table are slowly reaching for their weapons. The bearded man steps back, into the shadows, disappearing silently from view.

The scarred man tilts his head to the side, considering. "So...did you have a plan, Jade Shade? Or were you hoping to bring us down with your...pluck?"

The Jade Shade shifts her stance slightly. Her grin widens. "Well, let's see! First, I'm Republic City's new superhero, and I'm here to tell you that murdering nice ladies is no longer an acceptable way to spend your evening. In fact, murdering anyone is no good, 24/7. It never should have been acceptable to you in the first place, but since you seem to be in some doubt about that, I'm here to tell you flat out: _no_. Bad thugs! Second...I don't have a plan!" She winks at Ruma. "But my friend does."

The scarred man glances at Ruma. "Her?"

Ruma gasps. "M-me?"

" _No. She meant me._ "

Quite a lot of things happen after that.

The first thing Ruma registers is the bearded thug sailing over her head and crashing into the interior of the nearest van. He hits the inner wall of the cargo compartment hard enough to dent it and set the van rocking madly on its suspension.

Another woman emerges from the darkness, from the direction that the bearded thug just left at considerable velocity. She is wearing a dark coat, her face is covered by a scarf, and she sprints towards the scarred thug, her arms raised, her hands open.

Ruma's eye is drawn next to the Jade Shade, who snaps her right arm out towards the table and the other two thugs, releasing a mist of some kind of powder. She puffs out a breath, and a gust of wind blasts the powder out over the thugs. The two men go from busily grabbing their guns and pointing them at the superhero, to busily dropping their guns and and clutching at their eyes, yelling in pain. The Jade Shade advances on them. She snaps out her left arm, and suddenly she's holding a baton.

The next thing Ruma notices is the scarred man grabbing her coat and thrusting his gun at her face.

Being taken hostage is a bad development on top of a bewildering development on top of a bad night and it's too much for Ruma to deal with. Except...she _has_ to deal with it, because it's happening to her, and she doesn't want to die, and Ruma _definitely_ doesn't want to be the only one in the room not fighting to save Ruma's life. 

Ruma isn't tall, and she's not very heavy, and the only thing she learned from company mandated training is that she can't do figure of four armlocks. All of that means that wrestling with the scarred guy is out, but wriggling out of her oversized jacket? That she can do, and she does, ducking away from the muzzle of the gun, sliding out of her outer layer, and rolling away from the gunman. Ruma scrambles frantically away from him on her butt, too terrified at the thought of being shot to turn her back on him.

He tosses the jacket at the woman in the dark coat, who swats it aside with one hand, and he levels his gun at the woman's chest. She raises her other hand and clenches it into a fist. The scarred man gasps in shock when his pistol crumples in on itself like a piece of aluminium foil being squeezed by...a...fist.

Ruma's jaw drops. She stares at the woman in the black coat, who accelerates, and puts her clenched fist to further and quite excellent use by slamming it into the scarred thug's chin. Her blow lifts him off his feet and dumps him, unconscious, on the concrete.

A couple of thuds by the table later, and all the men are down.

The Jade Shade nods at the other woman, who stoops to collect Ruma's jacket. She approaches Ruma carefully, and hunkers down beside her, offering her the jacket. " _Hey. Sorry we didn't jump in sooner, but I was worried that big guy might have hurt you while he was still carrying you. Are you okay, miss?_ "

"Um...Ruma. I'm Ruma." Ruma automatically accepts her garment, hugging it to her chest. "Is it okay if I'm not okay? I feel like the brave thing would be to say I am, but...I'm not brave."

" _Well, I think you are. And it's okay if you need some time. But it's over now. The police are on the way. You're safe, I...we promise._ "

"You're...the Blue Spirit, aren't you? I...I heard that you glowed..."

" _I'm trying to break the habit._ "

"Oh. Okay. Um...thank you."

" _My pleasure. We're going to wrap these guys up, then we're going to go. If you need anything, let us know, okay?_ "

"I...will, after I get done with all the throwing up I think I'm about to do."

The Blue Spirit gently clasps her upper arm. " _Hey. You're one of the good guys, Ruma. You want to know how I know? You were scared, but you acted anyway. Next time fear tries to stop you, you remember tonight. You remember that you beat your fear. You can do it again, whenever you need to. Trust me on this._ "

Ruma stares at her. "...thank you. I...I'll be okay. I...really need to talk to Alexis, though, I think. I think I should do that..."

The Blue Spirit nods. It's impossible to say, of course, because her face is covered, but Ruma thinks she might be smiling when she says, " _Good luck._ "

Ruma smiles weakly at her. Then she closes her eyes and decides that if she can beat her fear, she can beat her nausea, too. After _that_ , she'll see if Scott's done with his nap, and maybe explain to him that she'll save his job after his negligence with the radio stunt, but only if he commits to making certain changes in the way he works.

Because after tonight, Ruma isn't going to be the rookie ever again.

* * *

Asami finds Tenzin waiting for her when she gets home from the office.

He is parked in front of her building, leaning against his car. He waves when she drives past him, making the turn into the underground parking bay. While she waits for the bay door to open, Asami thinks frantically about the state of her apartment and decides she can't risk Tenzin seeing it.

Once she's parked, she climbs up the stairs to the lobby and goes out onto the street to meet him in the cool night air.

"Boss! To what do I owe the honour?"

Tenzin smiles. "I haven't been your boss for a while now, Asami. Tenzin is fine. I was hoping we could talk, though, if you have the time?"

Asami holds in a sigh. Time is something she really doesn't have enough of, now more than ever. She's lucky if she manages a few hours of sleep on the nights when she can sleep at all. "Well, how do you feel about the roof? My apartment's a mess of Future Industries papers...I'd be in a lot of trouble if I let a journalist in there."

It's a weak lie, and she doubts Tenzin buys it. But he just strokes his beard for a moment, considering, and finally nods. "It sounds ideal. Particularly since I brought beer."

He holds up a six pack of very cheap lager. 

Asami snorts. "Nothing like lukewarm beer on a mild night. Come on, I'll take you up."

They don't talk until they're up on the flat roof of the apartment complex. Asami props the door open with a wedge kept up there by residents for that purpose. Asami takes a key that hangs from a nail inside the roof access door and leads Tenzin onto the roof. She turns to the right, where an old steel gym locker rests against the brickwork of the doorway, and uses the key to open the locker. She takes a pair of folding chairs and an electric lantern from the locker, and carries them to the edge of the roof.

Tenzin joins her and they set up the chairs and the lantern, then sit, staring out over as much of Republic City as the skyscrapers don't block out.

"Nice setup," Tenzin says, offering her a beer.

"I like it up here," Asami says, accepting the can. "It's not exactly a roof garden, but it's...something. The residents actually got planning permission to develop the space, but I'm probably going to have to move before that happens."

"Hmm. Because of the Red Lotus? Or because of your new job?" Tenzin cracks open a can and takes a sip, grimacing at the taste. "Truly disgusting. Cheers."

"Both. Future Industries needs me, because the Red Lotus...took my father. And, ah, the CEO of Future Industries can't live here. It's not secure enough." Asami gives Tenzin a wry look. "It's too easy for journalists to track me down, for example. Cheers." Asami opens her can, clinks Tenzin's, and takes a gulp. "Vile. Good to know some things don't change. Though last time we did this, we were celebrating me getting my own column. I'm not even a journalist any more."

"As long as I'm editor, there's a job for you at the _Chronicle_. And as long as you are breathing, Asami, you'll be a journalist. It's in your blood."

Asami winces. "I wouldn't be doing you or the _Chronicle_ any favours going back. Not with Tarrlok holding an assault charge over me."

Tenzin sighs. "The gallery fire certainly played into his hands. It's debatable how effective his task force has been, but he had a plan ready to go when everyone else was scrambling. The Red Lotus haven't attempted anything so bold since, which Tarrlok's spinning as the result of his task force's efforts. Though the word I hear indicates that they haven't made a single significant arrest. They've merely brought in a number of low-level enforcers."

"I can't say I'm surprised that they aren't making any headway. The Red Lotus command structure is insulated from the enforcers, so it's hard to work up the chain. And there hasn't been any sign of P'li or Zaheer since...that night. Besides, Tarrlok's biggest concern is getting results for himself."

Tenzin eyes her sidelong. "Not that you've been looking into it in the last month or so..."

"I'm not sure sarcasm suits you, boss. I'm _busy_ , not blind." Asami sips some more beer, to buy herself time to figure out a safe path through this conversation. "Looking into the Red Lotus on top of everything else I have going on would only be possible if I didn't sleep. As for Tarrlok...I try not to look too closely at what he's up to. He has me in a bind, and he knows it, but he seems content for now that I'm no longer writing about the Red Lotus and his task force. Maybe he's happy that I'm not writing at all. I don't think he ever really liked my column."

Tenzin sighs again. "What he's doing amounts to blackmail."

"Maybe. But the facts are the facts. He has a sworn statement by an RCPD officer who claims I assaulted him on the night of the fire." Asami locks eyes with Tenzin. "Because I did, Tenzin. I'm guilty. Oh, there are extenuating circumstances, and all kinds of arguments that could be made. And his partner, Officer Marsh, won't back him up. I likely wouldn't face prison time, according to my lawyers, if charges were ever brought. But I'd be faced with some kind of punishment."

"Tarrlok won't allow that," Tenzin says grimly. "Because he knows that the _threat_ of a legal action he could spring on you at any moment is more dangerous to you than the likely consequences."

"Scandal." Asami makes a face. "Which would be bad for Future Industries. It would make it pretty easy for the board to remove me, too. And then I'd lose control of the company my father built. Which will not happen, if I can help it. I intend to keep the business in good order, for...when my father comes home. So, Tarrlok gets to shut me up, for now, at least. More worryingly, he'll use this leverage and his task force to try to push his way into Future Industries' business. If he can bring the Red Lotus investigation to our door...well, the company has a lot to offer someone who's gunning to be mayor. And he could become the arbiter of our fate." Asami sighs and takes a larger gulp of beer. "He's much more sly than I realised."

"He can't hold this assault charge over you forever."

"The statute of limitations is a year, boss. He can hold it over me for more than long enough. Maybe if my father...well. I don't suppose there are any damaging stories you'd care to print about Tarrlok, maybe?"

"Not damaging enough. Editorially speaking, there isn't a sufficiently rewarding angle to make critical coverage of the task force's efforts worthwhile. Personally, I think that should be our focus...but I'm being outvoted. I might be able to push that angle anyway, but my best investigative reporter quit not so long ago."

Asami shifts awkwardly in her seat. She injects all the decisiveness she can into her voice. "Boss, Future Industries needs me. And the _Chronicle's_ legal department does _not_ need the kind of headaches I'd be giving them. This is what's best for everyone."

"Is it what's best for you, Asami?"

She swallows more beer, so she can have an excuse for the bitter smile that question puts on her face. "Circumstances being what they are..."

Tenzin looks away, running a hand across his scalp. "I understand your reasons for leaving the paper, Asami. And your...problems with Tarrlok are not to be taken lightly. But I also know you. You're not letting any of this go. You didn't say that you weren't investigating the Red Lotus, after all. You merely gave me reason to suppose that you aren't sleeping. You will work yourself into the ground before you admit that you need help."

"Boss, I need help." Her smile softens, becomes wry. "But I don't think there's much that you or anyone else can offer me right now."

"Asami." He turns his stern gaze on her, his lips turned down. "I'm not here to pry into whatever it is you're doing when you should be sleeping. I imagine the real reason you don't want me in your apartment is because it's full of the evidence you've gathered on the Red Lotus and the Blue Spirit. You _are_ still investigating them, aren't you?" Asami winces, looking back out over the city. Tenzin nods. "That's a yes. Asami...I'm not here to convince you to do--or to not do--something. I'm here to remind you that I am your...friend. If there's something you need, you just have to ask."

Asami puts on a smile for him. "Thanks, boss. I'll...let you know?"

He sighs, rubs his scalp again, and finally nods. "Alright. I suppose I can't ask for more than that. Though if you _were_ still working for me, this conversation would be taking a different turn around now."

"I...understand. If...by chance, say, something newsworthy comes my way? You'll be the first to know." Asami takes another sip and wrinkles her nose. "Hey, can I ask for better beer next time?"

"You can ask," Tenzin says, chuckling. "But the odds are against..."

He trails off, frowning, and fishes his phone out of his pocket.

Asami's starts buzzing, too. She checks the screen, and sees that she has a call from Future Industries' new security consultant. She raises an eyebrow at Tenzin.

He shakes his head. "Duty calls. A truckload of thieves were taken down by the task force...apparently in spite of some interference by the Blue Spirit."

Asami's grip tightens on her phone. She tries to keep her expression neutral. "Huh. I thought she'd been keeping a low profile lately."

Tenzin stares at her, eyes piercing. "Interesting. I thought she hadn't been active at all."

"Right. My mistake!" Cursing inwardly, Asami gestures at her phone. "I should take this."

"Of course." Tenzin doesn't move to leave, though, so Asami lets her phone go to voicemail, waiting for him to speak. After a moment, in the most hesitant tone she's ever heard him use, Tenzin says, "You didn't ask about Korra."

Asami freezes. "No. I didn't," she grudgingly admits, her voice tight.

"She wouldn't want me to say anything, but it has become obvious that she...misses you, Asami. I think that pairing her with you was one of my better decisions. It...seemed to work well for both of you. Now...I'm concerned with the way she's tackling her, ah, new responsibilities. I think Korra could use a...friend like you right now."

Korra's name conjures memories of warm skin, a warmer smile, the warmest eyes...it becomes an effort for Asami to breathe. "She's...better off being nowhere near me, Tenzin. I'm dangerous to the people around me. You were right about that."

"Asami, I said that the story you were chasing was dangerous, not you. However, if I cannot make you see the distinction there, perhaps I can at least point out that Korra would be better off if you let her make her own decision as to what is too dangerous. I suspect that you'd _both_ be better off if you did." He holds up his hands before Asami can work out how to articulate even a fraction of her outrage. "Something to consider. I'll see myself out. Good night."

It takes a long time for Asami to unlock her throat, and by the time she does, Tenzin is gone.

Her phone starts buzzing again. She sighs, and answers it. "Kuvira. What went wrong?"

Kuvira snorts. From the background noises, it sounds like she's on speaker while she drives. "Other than the incompetent thieves bringing the task force down on their heads? Well, the Blue Spirit _decided_ to intervene," Kuvira says, dripping acid over the hero's name. "Which is funny, because I thought she was _supposed_ to be staying out of the limelight."

"Focus on the known issues, Kuvira. We can discuss other things more thoroughly _in person_."

Kuvira grunts, accepting the rebuke. "From what I'm hearing, there was someone else involved. Another vigilante. It seems we have a new player in our little game, Ms Sato."

Asami purses her lips. "More variables. Wonderful. Well, how's recovery of our gear looking?"

"Complicated. I'm heading there now, but the task force will take everything into evidence. And they'll be sending investigators our way, too. No more hiding these thefts from the public."

Asami covers her phone so that she can give vent to a complex string of curses.

When she's feeling slightly better, Asami uncovers the mouthpiece and says, "What about our...other cargo?"

"It depends on how thoroughly they inspect this stuff, but they probably won't find them. It won't be a disaster if they do; we didn't plant any illegal bugs in that equipment. But it could lead to questions you'd prefer not to answer."

"Most of the questions I have, I _can't_ answer. That's the problem!"

Kuvira says nothing for a moment. "Look...this is a setback, but word is this is the Red Lotus. We suspected they were behind the other thefts, but now we know. That's not much, but it's a start. And maybe...maybe the Blue Spirit might provide some answers. Assuming anyone can work out what's going on in _her_ head."

Asami pinches the bridge of her nose. "Why do I feel the need to remind you, my _security_ consultant, that phones are not _secure_?"

"Because you're not getting enough sleep and all this stress is making you paranoid and irrational? When was the last time you did something...fun?" Kuvira pronounces the word like she hasn't had many opportunities to use it before. "You're no use to anybody if you burn out, and-"

"Kuvira." Asami clenches her teeth. "First, you need to stop letting Opal bully you into saying things like that. Second, it would be entirely irrational of me to fire you, since you're one of the few people I can trust and you have expertise I need. However, since this conversation is making me feel _very irrational_ , be advised that I'm already mentally drafting the letter of resignation I'll make you sign."

The line goes quiet, apart from the sound of tires on blacktop. After several seconds, Kuvira calmly says, "Understood, Ms Sato. I'm pulling up outside the scene. I can see a lot of lights and cameras. The whole bridge is shut down. Looks like the Blue Spirit made a real mess."

"You don't know that this was her fault," Asami protests.

Kuvira snorts. "The task force alone couldn't cause the amount of chaos I'm seeing. I'm going to get into it now."

"Alright. Check in when you're done. I'll be up."

"Understood," Kuvira says, and hangs up.

Asami stares out at her city, trying to impose some order on the jumbled mess of her thoughts before she retreats to her apartment. "What are the Red Lotus planning? How do they know so much about the inner workings of Future Industries?" She sucks in a breath, and tries to hold it, tries to hold everything in. She can't, though, and the question that runs through her mind every minute of every day bursts out of her. "Where are you, dad?"

* * *

Opal has a busy few minutes putting her Criminal Detainment Devices and her Evidence Collection Gear to use. She uses the former to secure the thugs and the latter on two of the thugs' phones. Even if there isn't much hope that they'll get useful information from them, that's better than no hope. Tempting as it is to take all four, she leaves two for the police to find.

Korra joins her, dragging the thug from the van over to join the pile. She watches Opal secure him, her head tilted. " _Are you using zip ties and freezer bags?_ "

"I...look, I use what I can easily get my hands on!" Opal flushes. She angrily fastens the last zip...Criminal Detainment Device around the bearded thug's ankles. "Your jealousy over my super harness is noted, by the way! Because that's what this is. Super jealousy!"

" _I'm not...no, I think it's smart! You really have given this a lot of thought, O-ah! Jade...Shade!_ "

"You used my super name!" Opal's annoyance is swallowed by the warm happy glow that flows through her. "And we just completely super teamed the bad guys and super _saved a life_! We need to work on our super victory handshake! Ah! This is the _beeeeeest_!"

" _The super best?_ " Korra sighs. " _Well, actually...we need to have a proper conversation about...uh, everything, first. We kinda skipped that part to follow your lead here._ "

"Good thing, too." Opal glances over at the young woman they rescued, who seems to be calming down. "You said some nice things to her, you know. That was...sweet."

" _Oh, uh! I...it was just true, right?_ " Korra looks away, head tilting. " _I can hear sirens. Come on. The vans were empty. I think we've got everything we can. let's get out of here._ "

They get out of there. Opal follows Korra, who guides them swiftly and silently through the shadows, out of the industrial park and into the city. She leads Opal confidently through a maze of alleys and back streets before pulling them into the cover of a deep doorway partly concealed by a dumpster. Once they're sure that they're safe, and that no one's watching, they get changed. For Opal, that means putting on the outer layers of her disguise and taking off her mask. Korra simply unwinds her scarf and stuffs it in her pocket.

Opal rolls her eyes at her. "You really need to work on your costume."

Korra snorts. "Says the woman wearing stripper pants..."

"Hey! These aren't...these are super disguise pants!" Opal smirks. "I mean, I do _have_ stripper pants. To go with my-"

"Okay, moving on!" Korra says, her voice noticeably higher pitched. 

Opal grins. "Yeah, now you know better than to mock my pants. So...where's your car?"

Korra blinks. She rubs the back of her neck, and peers around the edge of the dumpster they're hiding behind so she can avoid eye contact with Opal. "Oh, uh...I have a bicycle. I sort of just...um, parkour around, usually, anyway?"

Opal sighs. "I can see that there are...lots of things we need to work on. But, uh, I guess it's time to...look for a super taxi!" Korra tenses up a little, so Opal quickly says, "Or a normal taxi! For two totally normal, not super at all ladies who are just...hittin' the town until it can't hit back! Which is what we are! Haha! Right?"

Korra sighs. "Yeah...let's find a cab."

They can't really talk when they're looking for a cab, much less when they're riding in the back of one, and even as Opal tries to focus on the good things, like Benny's awed expression earlier, or saving Ruma, Opal can't ignore the feeling of tension gathering in Korra and seeping out into the space between them. By the time the cab drops them off outside of a large house in one of the nicer parts of town, Opal's feeling nervous. Far more than she was when she was hanging off the side of that truck. She drops her key twice before she manages to unlock the door, but she does her best to put on a welcoming grin as she ushers Korra inside. "Welcome to my secret lair, super friend!"

Korra glances around, taking in the sleek, minimalist furnishings, the lacquered wooden flooring, the movie posters on the walls. "Is this...Bolin's house?"

"...yeah," Opal admits, slumping. "I'm a lair liar."

"It looks...nice."

"He lets me use the spare room for superhero stuff. Well, he did before the...paint bomb incident. So mostly I use the garage now. But...I thought we might have coffee? While we talk about...everything. In the lounge? Which is nicer than the garage...it's really cold in the garage. Um...you can also say words, too? It's...traditional in a conversation, is all..."

Korra stares at her, rubbing her neck. "Uh, so...Bolin knows you can airbend?"

"I didn't know I could...what you said." Opal blinks. "I'm a superhero, aren't I?"

"Your ability to control the wind...it's called airbending." Korra gives up on her neck and tries a smile. "But you...are definitely a hero in my book. I owe you my life. You, and Bolin, and the others."

"Pretty sure I still owe you one or two on that score," Opal says, smiling tentatively. "Though I would be okay with no more yelling? You seem really...intense tonight is all, and I'd like to avoid further yell-like activity."

Korra winces. "Right. I shouldn't have...I was caught offguard by the you with powers thing. And that truck...I'm not angry, Opal! Though I...kinda wish you hadn't stopped it."

"What? Wait, no. Um, come on through first."

She leads them from the hall to the kitchen, where she fills the kettle and sets it to boil.

Korra leans against a counter on the opposite side of the room.

Opal faces her, leaning against the fridge. "Okay, so...I feel like there's a lot to be said here, but...why shouldn't I have stopped the truck? It was full of bad guys, stealing Asami's stuff." Opal only catches it because she's looking for it, but at the mention of Asami's name, a pained expression flits across Korra's face before she can lock it down. "Stopping that sort of thing seems like the heroic thing to do? And...you haven't been doing much since...the fire. Except dodge my calls."

Korra snorts, folding her arms. "Aside from recovering from near death, upping my training regimen, and working a day job, I've been _very_ active, Opal. But I've been working low-key, what with the task force out to arrest me and the Red Lotus on my trail. I've taken down three cells this month, and I was tracking that truck in the hopes I could find-"

The blood drains from Opal's face. "Hiroshi...you're looking for Papa Sato and I...I messed it up!"

Korra's quiet for a moment, thinking, then she scrubs her face with the heel of her hand and slumps. "I'm trying to find all of them. P'li. Zaheer. And...Asami's dad. There's no guarantee that truck would have got us there, but..." Korra hesitates, biting her lip. "Um, don't beat yourself up over it. Particularly since the police were on their backs before you got there. Now that I know you have powers, though, we'll need to..." Opal straightens up, biting her lip and eagerly clasping her hands. Korra smiles. "Yeah, we'll need to start coordinating our efforts." Korra looks away, frowning slightly, and nods. "Yeah, and working on your airbending training."

Opal squeals and bounces on her heels. "I will be the best coordinated super pal you've ever had! Even if...I'm not the only pal you're working with?"

Korra blinks. "Uh..."

"You said 'us,' and it's obvious you didn't mean me."

Korra groans. "Right. I...suck at secrets. I mean, clearly...you figured me out pretty quickly."

"Are you dodging my implied question with an implied question?" The kettle clicks, and Opal busies herself loading coffee and water into the cafetiere. When Korra doesn't say anything, Opal rolls her eyes and asks, "How about if I guess? You're working with Asami, right?"

There's another pause, but at last Korra says, "Yeah. I am. As the Blue Spirit, that is. She's been keeping me in the loop with Future Industries stuff and we've been sharing what we can on the Red Lotus angle."

"So Kuvira's in, too, then?" Opal takes the milk out of the fridge. She threads her fingers through the handles of a couple of mugs and the cafetierre, tucks the cookie jar under her arm and grabs the milk with her free hand. "This way!"

She takes Korra through another door, through a dining room, and into the lounge. The lounge maintains the minimalist style, up to a point. In this case, the point was where Opal got into a fight with the decorator over getting couches that would look less good but be more comfortable for sitting, slouching, snuggling, and fooling around on. As she deposits her armload of supplies on a vinyl table so cutting edge looking at it too long makes her feel like her eyes are going to start bleeding, Opal looks at Korra, who is looking at some more of Bolin's framed movie posters.

Korra suddenly gasps. "Oh, wow! Nuktuk: The Revengening! I missed that one. It didn't make it to my hometown."

Opal smiles at her. "We have a copy, if you'd like to borrow it. On...every format you can imagine."

"Thanks. I, uh, I might..." Korra sighs. "How did you know it was me, Opal?"

"Um, well...this is slightly embarrassing, but..." Opal concentrates on pouring coffee, and hopes she isn't blushing too hard. "Your...muscles."

She can practically hear Korra's bafflement. "My... _what_?"

"You, uh, remember how you held me, after you rescued me from the Red Lotus? Well...I, um, felt...quite a lot of...you. And, uh, well...I have a really good memory for muscles! It's...a gift. So, when I grabbed your arm, in your apartment...how _is_ Ginger, by the way?"

"Asking me daily if I can get her Bolin's number," Korra says, moving closer to her.

"Oh, still awful, then?"

"Opal."

Opal finally stops fiddling with the coffee things and faces Korra. Korra looks...worried, rather than upset. And, now that she's this close under decent lighting, Opal can see that Korra looks _tired_. "I felt your biceps at your flat. Your intercostals when I nudged you at the auction. And then you were gone, and the Blue Spirit appeared...and it wasn't that hard to figure out, not when I was kinda suspicious, and looking right at you...after you got shot. For me. And almost-"

"Hey!" Korra hovers on the edge of Opal's space, her arms open. "It's okay, Opal. I'm-oof!"

Opal tackle hugs her, and even though Korra just manages to stay upright, her ribs probably get a few bruises from the way Opal squeezes her. "I'm so glad you're okay, and why wouldn't you take my calls, you jerk? And, and...you saved me so many times, and I'm _so_ grateful, and I have powers, too, now, after unlocking the spirit of air for that Zaheer creep, which was basically an accident, I was only trying to bash his skull! But now I'm super, I'm going to be a superhero, because I can't just sit on the sidelines, not when the bad guys have Papa Sato, and Asami's being all Asami, but she's a complete _mess_ inside, I know it, and oh, Korra! I never would have kissed you if I knew you were _you_ , because Asami likes you, dummy, and you like her, and why haven't you _told_ her you're the Blue Spirit? What's wrong with you two? And, and, I didn't even tell Bolin you're the Blue Spirit, I didn't even tell _Asami_ , your secret's safe! Oh! And I have your dress from the party, too, because I figured you must have hidden it in that awful room, so I made Bolin find it, and he smuggled it out, and I think after the fire and everything, your blood probably wasn't going to be much use for a DNA match, and I made Bolin walk all over it a few times, anyway, before we left, just in case, so that's probably okay, too. And why weren't you _answering_ my _calls_? I know, I know! You almost died, and you were really busy, and maybe trying to protect me, which...don't! This is my fight, too! But I've been trying to hold everything in for _so long_ and I have no idea how you've been managing, because look at me! I just burst!"

She eases up on the death grip, suddenly embarrassed and uncertain, but Korra takes in a breath, and she grabs Opal in a gentle hug and just holds her. "Wow."

"Yeah, I...am a gossip. Keeping actual life or death secrets has been...so hard, Korra. So hard."

Korra chuckles and pulls away. "I know the feeling. So...I'm not sure where to start, but-"

Opal puts her hands on her hips and switches her glare on. "Asami. Start there."

Korra winces. "I...okay. Uh, she hasn't been answering _my_ calls...uh, Korra's calls. So...I'm giving her space." She slumps. "While the Blue Spirit...has been keeping in touch over the phone. Mostly for...strategy sessions."

"And...the secret identity is staying a secret because...?"

"Because...she doesn't want _me_ , Opal! We had a nice time, at the gallery, before Zaheer turned it into a nightmare, but it was barely a date in the first place! We...might have had a chance, but with everything that's happened? I don't know. And...well, she _needs_ the Blue Spirit, not Korra."

Opal frowns. "No, look, if Asami is shutting Korra out...it's because she cares about Korra. She's...kinda been dodging me, too, you know." Opal rubs her arms and stares into the roaring fire on display in a monitor embedded in the entirely functionless fireplace. She shakes herself. "Which I'm mad about, and if I hadn't been so busy with my superhero prep, I would've given her several pieces of my mind by now. But...that can't be everything, Korra? Even if you're not...you still trust her? Right?"

Korra chews her lip, her eyes dimming. "Opal...Sukie told me-"

"That would be my mother, Suyin Beifong, thank you. The same mother who has never been in a punk band and definitely was not an aerialist in a travelling circus."

"Wait, she joined a circus?"

" _No_ , Korra, she emphatically did _not_! Now what did my mother tell you?"

"Oh, uh...that..." Korra's voice lowers to a whisper. "That Hiroshi Sato had the lion-turtle statue. He provided the lot for the auction. And it was a Future Industries stun gun P'li used on you. And...the Red Lotus have been stealing all kinds of scientific and engineering equipment, for a while now. And there's no way they'd be able to pull it off the way they have if they didn't have inside information."

Opal gapes at her. "You can't think that...that Papa Sato has anything to do with the Red Lotus!"

"I don't know what to think," Korra says gloomily. Opal opens her mouth, but Korra raises her hand and says, "I trust Asami, Opal. I know she's...one of the good ones. But...if I find out that Hiroshi's somehow connected to the Red Lotus...do you think Asami's in any kind of place right now where she could deal with that, even as a possibility?"

"Well, no...but-"

"I'm keeping it a secret for now. For her sake. And I'm keeping my identity a secret, too. She doesn't need that added...complication. Maybe, when we've brought Zaheer down, I can-"

"Korra, come on! That's a whole bunch of flimsy justifications, and you know it! Maybe... _maybe_ not telling Asami about your suspicions about her father makes sense, until you have something more concrete. But-"

Korra's face closes off. "I'm not at my limit, Opal. I'm way, _way_ past it. I've spent the last six weeks trying to cram in everything about my powers that I should've been learning over most of my life. I still don't understand everything about my powers, or Zaheer's plan, or...but I still have to be ready, somehow, for the next time we meet. And I have to fight the Red Lotus, however I can, in the meantime. I don't...have the luxury to give much thought to being Korra right now. I _have_ to be the Blue Spirit. That's all there is to it."

Opal swallows nervously. "Korra, that's...seriously not something that's going to work long term. But, look...I'll help. I'm ready! Let me take some of the load, here!" Korra's expression shifts, softens, and Opal takes a step closer. "Listen. If we work together, _all_ of us, we can-"

She's interrupted by the doorbell, followed immediately by the booming sound of someone pounding their fist on the door.

Korra stiffens. "Police?"

Opal's heart starts pounding, and it seems much louder, to her ears, than the fist crashing against Bolin's door. "Worse. That's Mako's knock."

Korra tenses, coiling herself like a spring, ready to move in an instant. She hesitates. "He _always_ knocks like that?"

"You've met him. What do you think?"

"He always knocks like that. Wow."

The knocking stops, and is replaced by a much more terrifying sound. The quiet, precise sound of a key slotting into and turning in a lock.

"Oh, right," Opal says, sweat forming on her brow. "He...also has a spare key."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, folks!
> 
> I, uh, had a plan, then I threw it out of the window and wrote this instead. I can only apologise for the relatively small amount of Asami screen time, but a lot more is coming, I promise!
> 
> Please do gimme them thoughts that you think in the comments!


	16. New Sheriff in Town Pt. 3

Detective Shen of the Republic City Police Department, currently assigned to the Red Lotus Task Force, also currently grumpy, nods to the cab driver she just finished interviewing. She raises her voice above the din of the helicopter returning for another sweep of the streets near Temple Bridge. "Thank you for your time, sir."

He smiles sheepishly and turns away, clutching his phone. She already got a copy of the video he made of the Blue Spirit and her accomplice. It's hard to make out any details, but maybe she can get something from it when she gets to her workstation. It might offer some concrete details that will help her and Mako sift through the morass of contradictory witness statements they've been taking for the last hour.

She waits until a uniform has escorted the cab driver past the tape barrier, back into the thick crowd of onlookers and journalists all eager for any details they can glean. Shen turns her back on the crowd before she lets her scowl show. She takes a moment to crack her neck and stretch her arms, then she goes looking for her partner. She nods at another Task Force detective conferring with a group of CSI techs as she strides past them. Like most people behind the barricade without an immediate job to do, Shen feels herself being drawn in by the gravitational force exerted by the overturned truck.

It is an impressive sight, lit up by generator-powered lights: a massive, battered hulk, wedged tightly across one side of Temple Bridge. Once the evidence sweep is done, someone is going to have to remove the truck from the area. The size and weight of the vehicle and its container represent a headache, but the damage to the surface of the road makes the whole thing a nightmare to deal with. Shen feels a weird little thrill as she looks at the disruptions to the blacktop, at the pieces of broken cement and rock that surround the truck, that in some places _grip_ it, like stubby little fingers on a giant hand.

"That's just creepy," Shen mutters. She winces at the sound of her own voice, even though she's almost certain that no one is close enough to hear her. "Not quite talking-to-yourself creepy, Shen. Get a grip."

Shen has always thought of herself as being hard-headed and pragmatic, but since she got her head smacked into concrete in the middle of a gunfight a couple of months ago, she has found it increasingly difficult to shake the feeling that the way she always understood the world is...no longer enough. Long held certainties have been eroded by other events since, too, and it's...worrying. Shen's job is, on some level, to make sense of criminal acts and to restore order. That job becomes much harder when what constitutes 'order' becomes hard to define.

Shen has the Blue Spirit to thank for all of the trauma--physical and metaphysical--her head has suffered lately.

She scrubs a hand over her short-cropped hair and pushes those thoughts aside for now. She hunts around until she spots her partner, who is watching a CSI comb through the cab of the truck. She heads his way, suppressing another shiver when she thinks about how close it came to colliding with the cars trapped on the other lanes of the bridge. She clears her throat when she gets near Mako. He glances round at her, nods, then returns his scrutiny to the truck.

"Sure is a mess," Shen says lightly. "Get done with interviews?"

"Yes and yes. Not that I got much out of them that we didn't already know."

Shen grunts, annoyed at how quickly he's dismissed the big issue for the sake of a complaint. "Gotta be done."

Mako gives her a sardonic look. "We're being given the grunt work, Shen."

"Look, _partner_ , I just got something out of that grunt work. Video one of the wits took of the Blue Spirit and this...other weirdo doing their thing. The Jade Shade? Well, he caught her and the Blue Spirit in action. Maybe it leads to nothing, maybe it helps secure a conviction down the road. Either way, _it's the job_. Would you rather be one of the shooters, up in the chopper?"

Mako sighs and reluctantly faces her. "You know I don't mean anything like that!" He hesitates, chewing his lip and glancing warily around him. He lowers his voice. "We're on the Task Force because we've both had run-ins with the Red Lotus and the Blue Spirit. But we're not...we're being excluded from the high-level briefings. It's hard to know exactly what's going on, which makes it much harder to do the job. Right?"

"Politics. I try to stay out of 'em." She shrugs, but this whole situation tonight has only increased Shen's uneasiness. Ever since she woke up in the hospital, she's been trying to make things that don't fit together form a satisfactory pattern. "Mind you..." She lowers her voice, too, and struggles to keep it steady. "I'm not...thrilled about this."

She jerks her chin at the truck.

Mako raises his eyebrows. "You mean...the Blue Spirit?"

"I mean Saikhan giving the order to fire when he did! You telling me that doesn't bother you? There is no way he should've given the order to fire while that truck was on the bridge. This could have been a disaster."

"I know." He scowls. "The Blue Spirit...saved lives tonight."

"Yeah, well...I can't say I..." Shen hesitates, and instantly becomes furious with herself for the hesitation. She forces herself to say, "She is not normal. This is not normal."

"I...know? I told you I saw her powers in action in the gallery. I thought you..." Mako turns away from the CSI and stares down at her, frowning. "You okay?"

Shen grits her teeth. " _Yeah_."

Because she is okay. She is not even slightly freaked by the magic ice wall or any of the rest of the evidence of actual superpowers being used by shadowy people she knows nothing about, that she can do _nothing about_.

"Well...okay. Hey, listen..." 

He glances around again. He's not really looking for eavesdroppers, Shen abruptly realises; he's just buying time while he wrestles with his doubts about _her_. It's like that, sometimes, with partners on the force. Trust is essential, but it doesn't always come easily or completely, even after years of working together.

It stings, though, discovering that that's how it is with her and Mako.

At length, he says, "Come on. Lieutenant Saikhan said he wants us back at the office. We're writing up witness statements and babysitting the phones."

"O-kay..." Shen rubs her hand over her scalp again, trying to figure out how much of what she's feeling is fear and how much of it is anger. She feels an urge to punch something. "You could've led with that. Sooner we get on it, sooner it gets done."

Mako tugs at his lip. "What's the rush?"

She rolls her eyes. "You could at least pretend like I have a life outside the force, Mako."

He blinks. "You do? Since when?"

Shen decides that if no other opportunities present themselves, she'll settle for punching Mako. "Listen, hotshot, I do...stuff. Like-"

"Work out? Grapple? Drink rooibos tea? Occasionally eat dinner with me? Usually we talk about work when we do, too. Is there...something else? Some _one_? Have you been holding out on me, Shen?"

"You think I've been..." She frowns, and thinks back over the past six months of their partnership. She knows a fair bit about Mako, she supposes, and while she hasn't tried to hide anything from him, maybe she hasn't been particularly...forthcoming. Her frown deepens. She growls, "I...ride ambulances."

"You... _what_?" He gapes at her. "Sorry, it sounded like you said-"

"I'm a volunteer paramedic." Shen hesitates, grinds her teeth, and hisses, "I...don't like downtime. I get...antsy. So, yeah. I ride ambulances a couple times a week."

Mako stares at her. His lips twitch into a smile. "That's your idea of time off? You...have less of a life than me." He holds up his hands when Shen switches on her glare. "But I can pretend that you have one, sure!"

"I _have_ a life, Mako. Maybe I don't hang out with the rich and famous at parties, but I like what I do."

Usually.

"I don't hang out with...okay, you have a life!" Mako glances around again. "You have a life and I...I have a hunch I want to follow up on. So...could you cover for me while I check it out?" He hesitates, looking away. "It's something I'd prefer not to tell the lieutenant about, in case it doesn't pan out. I'll be an hour, two at the most."

Shen frowns. "You're ditching me for at least two hours to chase one of your...feelings? While I do paperwork and risk the LT's wrath?" Shen folds her arms and gives him her best stare. "You're buying tea for me. All week."

He grins. "Deal."

She ups the intensity of her stare. "Breakfast, too."

His grin slips. Shen might be five-three, but she can _eat_. He huffs and holds his hands up in surrender. "Fine, fine! Breakfast, too! But I pick where we eat."

"Agreed." Shen forces herself to relax. "You're dropping me off first, though. Let's go."

On their way to their car, Shen spots Lieutenant Saikhan arguing with a tall, broad-shouldered woman. She nudges Mako. "Is that...?"

"Kuvira." He says her name like a sigh. "Probably best if we don't interrupt."

Shen agrees, especially if they're about to disobey Saikhan's order, but she's more than a little curious. "You two still...?"

"We're...we sometimes...congregate."

"You _congregate_? What does that even mean? Are you...swingers?"

"What? No! I...just meant that we...get together sometimes. For...talking. Together. About...things."

"Yeah, so, never mock my life again, partner. Yours sounds...I don't think I have the words."

He takes two long strides to the tape barrier, lifting it up for her. She steals a look at his face when she ducks under. His mouth is a hard line, his brows are pulled down, and his eyes...are looking back, at Kuvira. Mako stoops under the tape, then they both set off for his car, parked in the street a few hundred yards away. They get through most of those yards before Mako speaks again.

"Kuvira quit the force after the attack in the gallery. She's...proud, so she won't tell me...I don't know for sure if command pressured her out, but it seems likely. She let Zaheer get to Opal, even if that's my...well, anyway."

Shen frowns at him, but he doesn't look at her. "So...what's Kuvira doing here?"

Mako sighs. "Her new job. Working security for Future Industries."

Shen's eyebrows shoot up. "Kuvira...your 'congregating' girlfriend is working for your ex?"

He huffs out a breath, tugs out his keys, and hurries ahead to unlock the car. By the time Shen climbs in alongside him, he has the engine started. His hands clutch the wheel too tightly. His arms are rigid, his shoulders tense.

"So...if Kuvira and your ex are working the case, too, from the corporate angle..."

Mako snaps, "I know! Seatbelt. We're leaving."

Shen buckles up. "Okay, I can see where you'd be in a hurry to follow this hunch of yours somewhere less awkward."

For some reason, that just makes Mako more tense. He says nothing else on the drive back to the station, where he grunts a goodbye to Shen after leaving her at the rear entrance, by the parking lot. Shen watches him pull away and take a right.

She glances at the station building, frowns, then strides quickly through the lot to her own car. She gets in, turns the key in the ignition, and tears out of the lot so that she can follow her partner, and maybe find some clue as to what is going on in Republic City.

* * *

Opal Beifong is tired. It's been a long night of superheroic business and she really just wants to talk to her new super friend over a nice cup of coffee, but here comes her soon-to-be brother-in-law bringing as many problems with him as he does hyphens. Opal looks at Korra, who quickly wraps her scarf around her face.

"The kitchen has a back door, right?" Korra says, sounding remarkably calm considering Mako's footsteps are echoing through the house, signalling the twin prospects of imminent arrest and muddy carpets. "I can hide, then slip out that way when it's clear."

Opal rolls her eyes. "Hide where? Stupid minimalist designers!"

Korra shrugs, and ducks behind a sofa.

"That's not...Mako's not that bad of a detective!" 

Opal groans. She snatches up the remote and switches the TV on, cranking the volume. She tosses the remote, grabs one of the mugs she took from the kitchen and stuffs it behind a cushion on the nearest sofa. She's just thrown herself down on it when Mako barges into the living room, his gun in his hand.

He stares at her, his eyes roving around the room. "Opal."

Her heart is pounding all over again and her fatigue is shunted aside by a fresh wave of adrenaline. Some of it is undeniably fear, but Opal does not have to fake her outrage when she snarls, "What are you doing barging in here with a gun, Mako?"

He studies her coolly, unimpressed by her anger, though he does holster his weapon. "I wasn't sure what I'd be walking into, Opal."

"Well, far be it for me to prevent you from walking right back out again!"

He shakes his head. "Not happening. Not after what happened tonight. You almost died, Opal. Or should I say...Jade Shade."

Opal gapes at him. "Wh-what? What are you-"

"Did...you even check in the mirror before you decided on that mask? It covered almost none of your features. Do you really think I wouldn't recognise you when your face was a foot from mine?"

"Seriously, why is everybody so down on my mask? N-not that I'm confirming or denying any...I mean, I totally deny being the Jade...Ghost person you were talking about!"

Mako sighs. "Opal...does my brother know that you're running around-"

Suddenly Opal is on her feet. "You leave Bolin out of this! He believes in supporting me, unlike certain members of his family I could mention!"

His face tightens. "It only ends two ways for vigilantes, Opal! You die or you go to prison! If you're going to marry Bolin, he deserves to know-"

"He _does_ , okay?! I... _crap_! I knew you wouldn't understand!"

Mako throws his hands up. "How can I understand anything if no one _tells_ me anything? I was part of saving the Blue Spirit, wasn't I? In spite of the risks to my career! Why don't you-"

If she had suitable footwear, Opal suspects that she'd already have thrown both of her shoes at him this time. "Your _career_? Is that the the only thing you think's at stake? How do you even detect _anything_ with your head so far up your-"

"That's not true!" Mako takes two steps towards her, getting into her space, his teeth clenched. "I came here because I care about you, Opal! And I care about..." He groans, running his hands through his hair. "I care about stopping the Red Lotus. And everything I've seen on the Task Force has convinced me that...that Saikhan is useless. And that Tarrlok cares more about advancing his career than dealing with the real problems. And...and the Red Lotus haven't stopped, they've just...been acting under the radar. We've busted three major Red Lotus groups in the last month, but all of them were low-level members, and nothing has given us any solid leads on Zaheer or P'li. And...and I can't deny that the Blue Spirit has powers. I've _seen_ them. Zaheer has powers, too, doesn't he? How can the Task Force deal with that if the people in charge are still in denial about what's really happening? I didn't...come here to accuse you, Opal. I...came for your help."

Opal looks down and shuffles her feet. "Oh. Well...I mean. Okay, then. Fine. You could have...texted me, though? Instead of bursting in waving a gun around?"

"I didn't burst...ah." He rubs the back of his neck, wincing. "I...yeah. I just...so, can you help?"

Opal squints suspiciously at him. "Help...how?"

"I need to get in touch with the Blue Spirit." He quirks an eyebrow at her. "You seem like you maybe have a way of doing that, given that tonight's the first time she's surfaced since the gallery."

Opal sighs. "I...have you tried looking behind the couch?" 

He gapes at her, but she steps aside and gestures at the sofa. He walks around the end of it, his expression wary, but Opal appreciates the fact that he doesn't start waving his gun around again. He turns a confused frown on her. "So...what am I looking for? Is this another joke?"

" _Um...no._ " Korra steps out from behind the living room door. " _Hi, Mako._ "

Opal gapes at her. "Holy...when did you get there?"

Mako whirls around, pulling his gun and aiming it at Korra. He snorts. "Drop the act, Opal! It's obvious she was here the whole-"

"No, I mean...she really was behind the couch a minute ago! That was _crazy_ stealthy, Blue Spirit! Oh, and Mako? Put the gun away. Or you'll be uninvited from the wedding brunch."

To Opal's shock, he seems genuinely flustered to find he's holding his gun and quickly puts it away.

" _So...what can I do for you, detective?_ "

"You can loop me in," Mako says, after a quiet moment. "I meant what I said. After tonight, I can see more clearly than ever...you saved lives. Lives that the Red Lotus _and_ the Task Force endangered. If something isn't done...Lieutenant Saikhan is nothing like Captain Beifong. He doesn't have what it takes to run the Task Force, but Tarrlok likes him." Mako snorts. "Tarrlok _loves_ him, because Saikhan will do pretty much anything Tarrlok asks. This whole thing is rotten! The Red Lotus are planning something, something bigger than the attack on the gallery, I can feel it! Someone needs to do something...and if I'm not the right someone," Mako says, his voice softening, "I want to help the person who is."

Opal smirks at him. "Took you long enough to work out what's been pretty obvious to everyone else for aaaaages, but...okay. You can be our inside guy, our snitch, our-"

"I'm serious, Opal!" Mako snaps. His face flushes, and he slumps. "Sorry. But this is...stepping outside the law is a huge...uh, a huge...step for me!"

Korra steps forward. " _Do you think this was something I decided on casually, Mako? Do you think this was easy for Opal?"_

Opal looks at her feet, feeling a small twinge of guilt. "I mean...maybe it wasn't _easy_ , but...superpowers are pretty neat. And the bad guys are _really_ bad, so...I didn't, uh, didn't have to think too hard about it!"

Korra chuckles softly. " _Fair enough! I don't exactly regret becoming the Blue Spirit, but...well, it's who I have to be. It's that simple. But that's not the same as easy, Mako. Believe me._ "

He looks between them, frowning. "I...I don't know what to believe, _Blue Spirit_. I still don't know who you are, what you have to do with the Red Lotus, or what your ultimate agenda is. I'll work with you, though, because it might be the only way to stop the Red Lotus. But if anything happens to Opal-"

Opal lets out a yell of frustration. She stabs an accusing finger at Mako, and to her surprise and slight chagrin, a gust of wind whips out and slams into his chest. It knocks him back, dropping him onto the sofa behind him with a stunned look on his face. Opal is almost as surprised as he is, but she stands tall, trying to act like she knows exactly what she's doing. 

"If anything happens to me, it'll be because of choices I make, knowing _exactly_ why I'm making them. If the Blue Spirit and I are going to _let_ you work with us, Mako, you'll need to respect that."

"You...you have powers, too!"

"Yeah, thanks to Zaheer. And my powers are awesome, as is my _very safe_ armoured costume, and I am in this fight, Mako. No one gets to tell me otherwise. Besides..." Opal grins. "I'm a complete badass! I'll be fine!"

His expression shifts as he sits up, rubbing at his chest. "I...I just don't want to see you hurt, Opal." When she opens her mouth, he quickly adds, "But you're right, of course. I...I'll respect your decision here."

"Okay, then," Opal says stiffly. "Fine. We...we can work together as long as you remember that." She glances at Korra. "Um...how _are_ we going to work together?"

" _Huh_?" Korra, who is staring into space, blinks and turns to look at them both. " _Oh! Uh, discreetly! In fact, I have to be elsewhere, but...I'll be in touch with both of you. Mako, you can help by giving us access to the Task Force's intelligence on the Red Lotus. We can compare notes at some point. Oh, and, yeah, you could maybe also warn me if they're about to arrest me? That'd be good, too!_ "

Opal grins. "Right! Same goes for the Jade Shade, now I've made my super debut!"

Mako huffs out something that Opal chooses to interpret as an appreciative laugh. "You almost died at least three times tonight Opal. Some debut!"

"Hey, now! It was more like six times and I dodged 'em all like a pro!"

" _Right, so...we are going to need to do some training soon, too, Opal. Because I'd also really like it if you didn't die._ "

"Whoah!" Opal glares at Korra. "Don't throw me and my training wheels under the super bus in front of the cops! I thought we were a team!"

" _Uh, that's already a whole bunch of mixed metaphors, but teams train, Opal. So we're going to do that. It'll be helpful for both of us. I, uh..._ " She glances nervously at Mako. " _I still have a long way to go myself._ "

Mako groans. "You could have lied and told me you actually knew what you were doing."

"No lies between super teammates!" Opal says sunnily. She gives Korra a subtle but, Opal's confident, entirely devastating look. "Something you should apply to _everyone_ , don't you think, Blue?"

Korra glares at her. 

Mako frowns, rubbing his jaw. "There are other...oh. Asami. Of course. That's why you were able to respond so quickly to the Future Industries theft!"

Opal winces. "Oh! Wow, you...actually do detect things sometimes! Haha! Ooops..."

Korra narrows her eyes, but doesn't say anything, which only serves to make Opal repeat her earlier foot shuffling routine.

Mako stands up. "I'll do what I can to provide information and keep you both out of jail. When the time comes to make a move on the Red Lotus, though, I want in."

" _Alright. I imagine we're going to need all the help we can get. Welcome aboard, Mako._ "

Opal clears her throat. "On a trial basis, to be clear. We've got a pretty great super dynamic going is all, and you...well, you're not dynamic material."

He rolls his eyes. "I don't even know what that means! Ugh, look...I get it. I haven't exactly been...trust might take some time...on all sides." He nods at Korra. "Particularly since I still don't know who's behind the mask...well, scarf."

Korra shoots a look at Opal. " _It's better all round that nobody does. I'll be in touch._ "

And without another word, Korra turns strides out of the living room, leaving Opal with her brother-in-law.

He sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. "What have I got myself into?"

"The right side, for once," Opal says, sweetly.

"I'm a police officer!"

"That...isn't a guarantee of being in the right." Opal spreads her hands when he glowers at her. "Look, just stop being such a massively clenched butt about everything, Mako. Maybe try that? Because we're all dealing with the same problems, and somehow you manage to be the most uptight person in every room you walk into."

His face pales, and Opal wonders if she's pushed him too hard, but he just looks away, jaw flexing. After a strained moment that lasts a thousand years or so longer than Opal would prefer, he says, "You know who she is, don't you?"

Opal sighs. "See what I mean? But, yeah. I do. She's a hero. She's a good person. She's my friend."

He looks at her, face set. "That's all you're going to tell me?"

"Well, _obviously_! I couldn't answer your questions about her if I wanted to, but...maybe you can ask her yourself now? And then she can not answer them instead!"

To her surprise, he chuckles. "Right. I...do need to go. And you probably need to get some rest." He rubs the back of his neck. "I...just be safe, Opal. Please? I...know you and I aren't maybe the closest...but Bolin...he loves you, Opal. And there's almost nothing I wouldn't do for him. You...you know that, right?"

"Yeah, I do," Opal sighs. "And for the record, I love Bolin more than I love...oh, cupcakes. And puppies. Puppies who bring you cupcakes, even! I...love him a lot, Mako." She offers him a wry smile. "Why do you think I've put up with _you_ this long?"

He snorts. "I appreciate your dedication. Now I need to go do paperwork on all of these vigilantes who are terrorising the city."

Opal sags with relief when he leaves. "Oh, thank goodness they're gone! I think I need...about twelve ice packs?" Opal buries her face in her hands. "I... _jumped off a truck_! While it was tipping over! And there were all these crates about to crush me, and the hood of a car does _not_ provide a soft landing, and I jumped _on_ the truck! Twice! And it wasn't easy, either time! Not to mention falling off, and hurting my ribs, and..." She shakes herself. "All totally worth it, though, because I'm helping save people and I will have the best. Biography. _Ever_!"

Opal nods to herself. Then she goes to the kitchen to raid the freezer for all of the ice that Bolin has available.

* * *

Asami stays on the roof for a while after her conversation with Kuvira. She has to deal with several other calls from the office, until she decides to switch her phone off and handle everything else in the morning. Kuvira is likely to be tied up for hours and she'll deliver her next report in person. Asami has a lot of other matters she can deal with in the meantime.

Too many, in truth.

In spite of the amount of work that awaits her, Asami stays put, finishing off a second beer. She's mildly appalled to discover that the second tastes almost acceptable after the first. Asami's mind begins to wander, but for once the paths it takes are blurry and indistinct, unlikely to double back on her, and wound her. She lets her mind drift, and she drifts after it, off into a light sleep.

She wakes up some time later, both her mouth and her brain feeling like they've been packed with cotton. She's cold, and her limbs are heavy, but in spite of her discomfort, moving seems to require more coordination than she can muster. When a swell of self-pity rises within her, though, Asami shakes her head vigorously and forces herself out of the chair. Working slowly and clumsily she returns the folding chairs to the locker, along with the rest of Tenzin's beer, and gathers up the empty cans before she goes down to her apartment.

After she unlocks her front door, Asami has to take a moment to lean her head against the doorframe and gather herself. "Come on. Wake up. Work to do."

She opens the door, deactivates her alarm, and locks up behind her. She drops her keys on the console table beside the door, takes the Farraday bag that sits on the table and slides her phone inside it. Asami takes a deep breath, then hurries through her living room to the kitchen. She flicks on the light, tosses the empty cans in the trash, and brews a pot of coffee. She pours herself a glass of water and drinks it. Her hunt for food turns up a box of crackers she has no memory of buying and an apple that she convinces herself is not past its best.

She takes her meal and her coffee into the living room, navigating through the darkness by memory, and deposits everything on the table. She takes another breath, then goes to the wall and switches on the light.

Asami used to have a white board on her wall, one that she most recently had been using to track reported activity of the Blue Spirit. She has three boards, now, all full and overflowing with her neat handwriting, newspaper clippings, and photographs. One board still concerns the Blue Spirit, another covers everything she knows about the Red Lotus, and the third is full of details concerning her father and Future Industries. 

Most of Asami's furniture has been overtaken with books, files, newspapers, magazines, and a variety of materials she's printed off from random internet cafes. She never visits the same place twice and does the best she can to organise her research in such a way that she leaves as few clues as possible as to what she's looking for to anyone who might be snooping. Maybe it's paranoia, but after the Red Lotus so successfully shut down everything at the gallery, Asami has been careful to keep her private investigations off her laptop and work computer. She tries to keep them offline, as much as is practical.

Which, in the case of the Blue Spirit, turns out to be almost disturbingly practical. Asami walks over to her couch and runs her fingers along a row of folders, until she finds the one she was last inspecting. She carries it over to the table, opens it, and goes back to reading a story from over twenty years ago, a story of a condemned building destroyed in an explosion, killing one unidentified male.

A couple of months ago, she might have missed the significance of this story. She would have had no idea that there was anything to look for in the first place. But after her father was taken, Asami threw herself into the investigation of the Red Lotus and the Blue Spirit, starting with all the notes she'd already made. She'd discovered a seeming discrepancy. She'd been able to piece together a rough timeline of the Blue Spirit's activities going back about a year. But the parameters she'd begun using for searching for signs of the Blue Spirit's heroics started turning up results from thirty years ago. The more she looked for past Blue Spirit stories, the more she found, too.

Which was clearly impossible, because the woman Asami knows as the Blue Spirit wasn't _born_ thirty years ago. But there is no doubt about it: a superhero much like today's Blue Spirit was operating in Republic city for more than two decades.

"Until...he died alone in a building. No, until he was _murdered_ , twenty-three years ago. Another agent of Raava, maybe? But...what happened? Could it have been the Red Lotus?" She groans and scrubs her face with her hands. "Or do I just want it to be, because I need to make a link _somewhere_ in this mess!"

Asami gets up and paces up and down along her row of whiteboards, thinking out loud. "P'li gave me Raava's name. They want me looking for...him? Her? That much is obvious. But why? There is a link there, between Raava and the Blue Spirit. And between both of them and the Red Lotus. They have history, in fact. Decades of it!" 

She pauses beside the stack of folders she has on Blue Spirit activity. Or rather, Blue _Spirits_. She hasn't found anything that looks like a Spirit story going back more than fifty years, but she's been limited in her searches by time and her attempts not to leave a trail. She wonders if there is more, and how much more there might be. 

"The Red Lotus want power...power like the Blue Spirit possesses. Power like this...Raava possesses?" She closes her eyes, thinking back. "The Blue Spirit said...well, she implied that Raava was alive, and someone she could contact. I need to talk to Raava. Which means I need to talk to...her."

Asami sighs, abruptly weary again. She and the Blue Spirit have been coordinating since her father was taken, but for the most part it's been through the exchange of messages on burner phones. Necessity has dictated that most of their communication has been geared towards their combined efforts to investigate and defeat the Red Lotus. There hasn't been much opportunity to talk about anything else.

There hasn't been much opportunity to talk to _anyone_ about anything other than the most immediately pressing issue she's facing, whether that be as the new CEO of Future Industries, or in her self-appointed role as a clandestine enemy of the Red Lotus. She feels a pang of...something when she realises that her conversation with Tenzin is probably the most personal and honest conversation she's had in a month.

Asami shakes her head, annoyed at herself for losing focus. She takes a sip of coffee, and gets annoyed at it, for being cold. "No time to make fresh coffee. I need to...go through the rest of these folders. Look for more information. Find the links I know are there, that _have_ to be there! There's a story here, one big story, and I can...sense the edges of it. I'm going to crack this thing. No matter what."

Grimly, Asami finishes the cold cup of coffee as she writes up the salient points on the article about the old Blue Spirit's death. She's almost done when a noise coming from the kitchen startles her. Asami instantly reaches under the table and grabs the stun gun she has taped to the underside of it. She eases her chair back soundlessly and stands up. She moves quickly and quietly to the wall beside the kitchen door and readies herself.

She is about to rush in when she smells something, something warm and savoury and so delicious her stomach lets out an angry growl, entirely ruining her stealthy approach. She hears someone moving in her kitchen, the rustle of cloth and of paper bags.

Asami bites her lip. "Kuvira? Is that you? If it is, I might have to stun on you on principle for not knocking."

There's a brief pause. Then a woman in a dark coat eases her way slowly out of the kitchen, her hands raised. In spite of the fact that her face is almost entirely obscured by a scarf and a hood, Asami finds herself relaxing, truly relaxing, for perhaps the first time since Hiroshi Sato was taken.

" _Hi,_ " the Blue Spirit says, sheepishly, " _You, uh, weren't answering your phone, so..._ "

Asami tucks her stun gun into her pocket. "So you broke in?"

Only her eyes are visible, but it seems to Asami like the Blue Spirit smiles when she says, " _I'm a criminal. I'm supposed to do crimes!_ "

Asami laughs. "I don't think that's how it works, but I can't say I want to argue." She sweeps her hair back and puts on a smile. "Hi, Blue Spirit. I'm glad you stopped by. We have a lot to talk about."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> I could waffle about having made things difficult for myself with this arc, structurally speaking, but I suspect that the only person interested in that sort of thing is me. I am also definitely interested in hearing your thoughts, though, because it is helpful to me and, frankly, delightful that so many of you continue to comment on various aspects of this fic. It is appreciated!
> 
> Having inadvertently waffled anyway, I'll now conclude by concluding.


	17. New Sheriff In Town Pt. 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With many thanks to the wonderful cd_fish who provided beta support and many, many useful suggestions for improving this over many, many, many readings. While ill. Needless to say, cd_fish is great and if you like this more than usual, that's thanks to her! Any surviving wonky bits are all on me!

Bolin strides into the casino wearing a smile as immaculate as his suit.

He pauses to take in the sight of the huge, windowless room. The walls are the red of a sunset in a sky full of smog. There are slot machines lining the walls and dazzling the eyes with their cheap offers of easy riches. People throng the gaming tables where cards, dice or the wheel decides their fate.

The casino is full of the ebb and flow of money lost and money won, and the people dragged relentlessly by those merciless tides. Fortunes are being made, and fortunes lost. After all, Fortune can't smile on everyone.

And no one is lucky forever.

Especially when the house is as crooked as the crook who runs it: Iron Shin Yin.

Bolin catches the eye of a blackjack dealer, a beautiful woman with warm brown eyes and long brown hair that falls around her shoulders like a waterfall in a shampoo advert. She’s wearing a shimmering gold dress that could be said to leave everything to the imagination of the beholder, but only if the beholder in question had the imaginative capacity of an accountancy exam.

Her name is Teri Mist. She doesn't recognise Bolin, but he recognises her. After all, he stopped a cadre of Yin's goons from putting a permanent stop to Miss Mist's being able to breathe last night.

Someone seems to think that Teri Mist knows too much. Bolin wants to know exactly what it is she knows too much about--before she has the kind of accident that will leave her incapable of knowing anything at all--because it might be just enough to let him know how to bring Iron Shin Yin down.

Maybe then Bolin will be able to give up the double life of being a hero and finally realise his dream of starting his own circus.

He hops gracefully onto a high-backed chair, leans his elbows on the red baize surface of the card table, and locks eyes with Teri. In a voice so husky it could pull a sled through an arctic blizzard he says, "Deal me in."

Teri's eyes widen with considerably more interest than his bank has ever offered him. "It's a thousand dollar buy-in, sir."

 _Her_ voice is more sultry than the fur of a black cat at midnight after a warm day with high humidity, and no hint of thunder for weeks to come.

Bolin reaches inside his jacket and produces a bundle of Benjamins. "Is cash still good in these parts?"

"Cash is God in these parts," another player assures Bolin. He's a tall, thin, suave-looking man with a mean glint in his bloodshot eyes. The artful waves of his black hair are as full of product as his black heart is empty of compassion. He goes by the moniker Lucky Eddy, and he’s one of Iron Shin Yin’s top lieutenants. He raises a glass of whisky in salute and sneers, "You're bold enough. Maybe lady luck will favour you."

Teri touches the hollow of her throat, at the place where a person might wear a symbol of their faith. But the only thing at her throat is a gold bow tie. If Bolin were a gambling man, and right now _he is_ , he'd wager it's a clip-on.

Bolin nods at the suave-looking man. "Luck isn't the lady I'm most interested in tonight."

Teri takes Bolin's money with nervous eyes and nimble fingers and turns it into a pile of plastic chips. "New player at the table." She deals out a pair of cards to each of the people at the table. Her eyes linger on Bolin. "Will he be a winner?"

Bolin smiles. He taps the back of one of his playing cards, which shows an intricate pattern in blue ink. "I always bet on blue. It's an almost... _spiritual_ belief with me."

He pushes all of his chips forward.

Teri lets out a tiny gasp.

The suave-looking man frowns at Teri, then at Bolin. "Bet on _blue?_ There _has_ been a lot of talk lately about a certain masked...hero. That sort of talk isn't welcome here. Why, talk like that could make a man very _unlucky_." He looks over Bolin's shoulder and dips his chin in a nod. "An unlucky man could lose...everything."

Bolin considers Lucky Eddy. "Oh, I assure you, I intend to beat the odds..." He meets Teri's wide brown eyes. "And break the house. Iron Shin Yin will be the only loser tonight."

Teri looks away. She flips his cards over, revealing an eight of diamonds and the ace of clubs. "Nineteen," she declares.

A man with a face as brutish as his bruised knuckles eases himself onto the chair beside Bolin. He jams a jewel-encrusted pistol into Bolin's side.

Lucky Eddy chuckles. "Nineteen? That won't beat my twenty! I rather think you're stuck, based on present circumstances!"

Bolin winks at the terrified Teri. "Oh, I'd say this game's just got moving. I think I'll... _hit_!"

He sweeps his right elbow back, knocking the gunman's arm away from his side. He uses the momentum to spin himself around and throws his left fist into the gunman's jaw sending him careening back into a roulette table.

The croupier gasps as the table shudders. "Uh...zero pays out!"

Bolin smirks. "You bet he did!"

He stands up slowly, sweeping his gaze around the room where half a dozen men wearing earpieces begin to cut through the crowds towards their table. The suave-looking man's hand disappears inside his jacket, reaching for a weapon.

Bolin nods, his fingers touching the mask in his own pocket. He looks at Teri. "My card?"

She hesitates, then sweeps the top card from the deck, flipping it over to reveal the two of hearts. She gasps. "Twenty-one!"

"Winning hearts and minds...that's my game!" Bolin slips the mask on. He curls his hands into fists as the casino security closes in. "But I have been known to _play rough_!"

"Aaaand SCENE," screams the director, Varrick Blackstone, as he power walks through the set. "Great job, everyone! Rehearsals nailed! NOT you, croupier! That is _not_ how you spin a roulette wheel, not even in a fake casino! And if _I_ noticed, the audience will notice! And if they're noticing you, they're not looking at the stars! AND THEN THEY'LL WALK OUT OF THE CINEMA! When the cameras are rolling, you'd better be perfect! Get ready for the next setup! That means _tigers_ , people!"

Bolin offers a hand to the stuntman he 'hit,' helping him up and dusting off his jacket. "Great job, Barry! _I_ almost believed I'd punched you!"

As distressed damsels, leering henchmen, hopeful and hopeless gamblers all revert to actors and extras, Varrick closes in on Bolin, slapping a hand on his shoulder and encouraging him away from the set. Varrick is a tall, thin man, too animated by the ideas that flow through him to ever be still for longer than it takes for him to lose interest in something, a process that has been known to happen several times in a minute.

As surprised as Bolin was that Varrick decided to direct this project, he'll be shocked if Varrick sees the whole movie through.

"How's my star? Ready to be an even bigger star? Because I've got a good feeling about this film, and the last time I had a feeling this good I cornered the market on cornerless bread _and_ breadless toast! Are you ready to be bigger than breadless toast, kid?"

Bolin rubs his jaw, thinking. "With or without corners?"

"Ha! This is why I like you," Varrick barks, ushering Bolin into his trailer. "You aren't afraid to ask unimportant questions!"

"Thanks, Varrick!" Bolin's reflexive grin fades as he realises that this is the first time he's gotten Varrick alone in over a month. "Although...I do have some important questions, too, today..."

Varrick shoves Bolin onto a couch, shoves a cigar into his own mouth, and glares down at Bolin. "Okay, okay, out with it! You're unhappy. Who do I need to fire to fix it?"

Bolin shakes his head. "No one! Or...maybe me?"

Varrick blinks. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard today. And have _you_ heard our dialogue for this flick? What's with wanting to be fired?"

"Well," Bolin says, squeezing his kneecap. "You see...I don't think this movie is an accurate representation of who the Blue Spirit is."

"Of course not! It's a movie!"

"But the Blue Spirit is a real person! A real hero! And...a real woman, Varrick. I don't think I'm the right person to play the hero..."

Varrick blinks some more. "Huh. Well, ask yourself this, kid. Does a vigilante who wears a mask want the world to know she's a she? Or would she prefer it if our movie was as _inaccurate_ as possible, for the sake of her anonymity?"

That's one of the reasons why Bolin has stuck with Varrick over the years. His sense of perspective has seen him labelled as an eccentric, a genius, and a goof--often all of those at once. But he has a way of turning nonsense into sense that speaks to Bolin.

"That _is_ true. But what about her message?"

"Does she have one?" Varrick raises his eyebrows. "If she does, it might make life easier on the screenwriter!"

Bolin tightens his grip on his knee. "She hasn't really said anything about that, but...I don't think she'd wrestle a tiger?"

"It'll be self-defence!" Varrick waves a hand dismissively. "And the tigers'll live!"

"Oh, I'm...going to wrestle multiple tigers?" Bolin frowns as a new thought occurs to him. "My character dreams of starting a circus, so maybe he knows something about exotic animals? Maybe he could find these tigers a sanctuary after he's taken down Shin!"

"Sure, why not? It's not like we've got a full script yet. We could even set the finale in an animal sanctuary!" Varrick's eyes become distant. "I can see it! You're wrestling the villain over a crocodile pit...while the doe-eyed love interest is locked in a cage full of rabid giraffes!"

Bolin blinks. "Is that...do animal sanctuaries have things like crocodile pits? I don't think..." He shakes his head. "I don't think that rabid giraffes should be part of the Blue Spirit's message."

Varrick scoffs. "I didn't think she _had_ a message. How do you know she's never punched a giraffe?"

"I..." Bolin frowns. "Not that anyone _should_ , but how would you even reach their jaw?"

"That _is_ a poser." Varrick begins to pace the length of the couch and back. "Well, you could always try climbing-"

"I mean, look, Varrick, I'm pretty sure that the Blue Spirit is against hurting animals. And I _know_ she's against the Red Lotus. So maybe her message is the opposite of whatever they stand for?"

Varrick stops pacing. He narrows his eyes. "The Red Lotus, eh? Well, we're not going anywhere near them. No need to rile up real bad guys when we have plenty of fake ones to go round!"

"Varrick..." Bolin takes a deep breath. There's a question that's been gnawing at him for weeks, since everything that happened at the gallery. A question that his friend Asami Sato asked that night, a question Bolin is finally in a position to ask Varrick. "Don't you want to know how the Red Lotus used your-"

He's interrupted by three precise knocks on the door.

"YEAH," roars Varrick, still watching Bolin carefully. "WHAT?"

The door opens, admitting the diminutive form of Zhu Li. Technically, she's the CEO of Varrick Enterprises, Varrick preferring not to be in the same room as paperwork in case it negatively impacts his creativity. In truth, she does whatever is required to make Varrick's whims into realities. Bolin doesn't understand their partnership, but there are a lot of things he doesn't understand and his life has gone pretty well in spite of that.

So Bolin tries not to worry about things he doesn't understand, and for the most part, he succeeds.

Zhu Li glances at Bolin, then turns her attention to Varrick, adjusting her glasses and saying, "You're needed on set. The mechanical tigers have been deployed. I am assured that their hydraulic jaws can no longer cut a person in half or shatter their bones like annealed glass."

Bolin blinks. "Huh? Oh, wow! I'm glad I didn't know that they used to be able to do that when I agreed to fight them..."

Varrick snorts. "Like I'd ever let anything happen to you that wasn't covered in the insurance waiver!"

Zhu Li nods minutely at Bolin. She adjusts her glasses, returning her attention to Varrick. "And the R and D department needs you to approve the latest tram designs."

"Wait," Bolin blurts, "I thought Future Industries were developing the new trams for the city?"

Zhu Li's neutral expression doesn't change, but Varrick lets out an irritated huff of breath and spins to face Bolin. His unlit cigar falls from his mouth, only to be plucked from the air by Zhu Li.

"Well, that was before Hiroshi Sato got himself kidnapped! Now the city is considering other proposals. Which means there's another market for me to corner, and that's the only time I _like_ corners! You know I've always appreciated a good bevel! And I've always liked the idea of having my own tram! Don't you love that word? Tram! It's short and to the point, with just a hint of mystery! Like Zhu Li!"

Zhu Li pokes the cigar into the corner of Varrick's mouth and lights it with a match she produces from her sleeve and strikes on the wall of the trailer.

Varrick grins, puffing his cigar to life. "Okay, Bolin! Back to work! Unless there were any other questions?"

With a snap of her wrist, Zhu Li extinguishes the match and steps back behind Varrick. She watches Bolin impassively.

Part of the reason why Bolin and Varrick have gotten along so well is that Bolin doesn't usually try to understand Varrick or why he does things the way that he does. But...things have changed. Things are _changing_ , and people Bolin cares about are in danger because of it.

Opal has changed. She has _powers_ now, and it took her maybe five seconds to decide that she'd use them to fight the Red Lotus menace.

Bolin thinks about Opal, and how much he loves her, and how the only reason he's still going to get to marry her is that the Blue Spirit took a bullet for her. She didn't have the luxury of a stunt double, or the knowledge that she was facing down a gun loaded with blanks, and she did it anyway, for someone she barely knew. For someone who meant almost nothing to her, and who means everything to Bolin.

He thinks about Asami, who is Opal's closest friend, and has always been a good friend to him, even after her relationship with his brother fell apart. Asami's father is missing, and he knows her well enough to know that she'll be doing everything she can to find him.

He thinks about Mako, too. His big brother isn't always the easiest person to get along with, but that's because he's spent so much of his life looking out for Bolin. And now he's a cop, and he's trying to be the kind of cop who looks out for everyone, and that job's gotten a lot more dangerous now that the Red Lotus are causing trouble.

Things are changing in Republic City. So Bolin's been thinking that maybe it's time for him to change, too. He isn't sure how much he can do to help the people in his life right now, so he figures he'll just do everything he can, and hope that some of it helps.

He gets up, and faces Varrick head on, and channels the attitude of one of his favourite roles, the cop on the edge with a heart full of metaphorical razor blades, Detective Jin Brinkowski. "Just one more question, pun...guh, sir! How did the Red Lotus use your holographic equipment to smuggle in the gear they needed to shut down power at the gallery that night?"

Varrick's lips thin. He narrows his eyes. "I'd say that's more of an insinuation than a question..." He relaxes and his grin reappears. "If I didn't know you better than that!"

"I'd like to understand what happened that night." Bolin discovers that it’s easier playing Jin when he’s facing another actor, rather than his director and mentor. He licks his lips and barely resists the urge to wipe his palms on his trousers. "I'd like to know that something like that won't happen again."

Varrick puffs at his cigar for a few seconds. "Well, I'll tell you what, kid. We're cooperating with the police, and we have our own internal investigation on the go. When I know more, you'll know more. How's that?"

"Pretty good, Varrick!" Bolin takes a deep breath, and breaks eye contact with the man he owes his career to. "But I'd really like to see the report from our investigators. That would really put my mind at ease. Not to mention help me really dive into this role!"

"Whatever!" Varrick frowns, then shrugs. "If that's what it takes! Now can we get back to fast tracking this movie already?"

Bolin hesitates, avoiding Varrick's eye. But he meets Zhu Li's, and holds it, because Zhu Li is the one who makes things become a reality.

Zhu Li frowns, very slightly. She glances at Varrick, and bites her lip. Then she meets Bolin's gaze, and nods. She plucks out her phone, her fingers blur, and Bolin's phone buzzes in his pocket.

Bolin sighs with relief and smiles at Varrick. "Okay! Let's go make a movie!"

While the mechanical tiger operators argue about how best to have one of their contraptions bite him, Bolin checks Zhu Li's text. He sends a copy of the attached report to Asami and to Opal.

Then he puts his phone away and goes back to the task of becoming the Blue Spirit.

* * *

It has been thirty-eight days since Korra last saw Asami.

The last time she did was in the office of the _Chronicle_. Korra had just come back to work after what Tenzin had told people was a fall on the emergency stairs in the gallery, one that had broken some of her ribs. It had given Korra a chance to heal her gunshot wound and a reason for why she wasn't around when everything had gone crazy that night.

It had been Asami's last day in the office. Korra's last conversation in person with her was spent with a cardboard box full of Asami's personal effects between them. It hadn't been the only thing, of course. But there hadn't been any easy way to talk about their disrupted date, and Asami had made it clear where her focus would have to be for the time being: on Future Industries and on her father.

Asami had hesitated, before she’d walked to the elevators, and wished Korra well in a tone that Korra wants to believe suggested that Asami wished for other things too. The way she'd been looking at Korra, but only when she thought that Korra wasn’t looking...

But with Asami’s father gone, and Future Industries demanding so much of her time--and the fact that being the Blue Spirit has swallowed almost all of Korra’s time--whatever those wishes might be are something Korra’s been trying not to think about.

Korra isn't sure how she'd have handled things if that had been the last contact she'd had with Asami. Up until now, her text and occasional voice conversations with Asami had been enough to assure her that Asami was...not _okay_ , but she was at least still in Korra's life, in some sense.

That sense being that Asami has been working with Korra's superhero alter ego to battle the Red Lotus and try to find Asami's father. In truth, _Korra_ hasn't had any contact with Asami. Only the Blue Spirit has.

It occurs to Korra now, standing in Asami's incredibly messy living room, in her incredibly messy apartment, that she's made a mistake coming here. Because now that she's here, and Asami is standing just a few feet away, Korra's being forced to recognise just how much she's missed Asami.

Before she can even begin to work out what she's feeling, Asami offers her a sheepish smile and says, "I'd say take a seat, but, uh..."

She gestures around the room, which is strewn with boxes, folders, and piles of papers. The only unoccupied seat in the room is at a similarly littered table. Korra walks over to the table, her attention caught by a plate containing an old apple and a handful of dry crackers.

" _Asami...tell me this isn't your dinner?_ "

Asami hesitates, her mouth hanging open. Her cheeks redden and she looks down, realises that she's still clutching a stun gun, and quickly stuffs it into the back of her waistband. "Um, well...that isn't important! I've been looking into the Red Lotus and...I've found weird things, things that I think you can help me piece together. Things involving your mysterious friend, Raava."

Korra tenses up. It's still deeply unsettling to her that the Red Lotus know about Raava, particularly since she still doesn't know how they know. She's had too many other things on her mind to worry about why P'li told Asami Raava's name. Until this exact moment.

Asami narrows her eyes almost imperceptibly. "I know something about this makes you nervous, but I really need you to..." She pauses, closing her eyes. She runs her hands through her hair, and sighs. She opens her eyes and smiles ruefully at Korra. "Okay, so I really need you to tell me what you brought into my kitchen that smells so amazing?"

Behind her scarf, Korra smiles. She allows herself to relax, ever so slightly. " _Vegetable Tempura with noodles. We should eat while they're still warm._ "

Asami slowly nods. “Bringing me food? You remind of...um, never mind.” She looks around the living room and winces. "...eat in the kitchen?"

“ _Sounds like a plan,_ ” Korra thinks she says. It’s hard to tell over all the noise that her heart is making all of a sudden.

The kitchen is small enough to feel cramped with the two of them standing up in it. Asami's cheeks get even redder as she dumps a few stacks of dirty dishes into the sink to clear enough space for them to eat.

It's only when Asami has set out a couple of bowls and raises an eyebrow at her that Korra realises that she's wearing a scarf over her face, which is going to make eating anything slightly impossible. Which is awkward because Korra is really, really hungry. And tired. And she hurts all over, because it had been a very long, very full day before she got involved in stopping a truck and battling thugs in a warehouse.

So Korra just shakes her head and says, " _I, uh, ate earlier. Dig in!_ "

Asami purses her lips. "There's a lot here..."

" _Is that a question? Or are you just shocked that there's actual food in your kitchen?_ "

For a moment, Asami stares at Korra. “Are you deflecting because you’re hoping I won’t notice that you forgot that you’re wearing a scarf over your face?”

“ _Uh...no? Because I definitely did not do that. So, uh, are you really going to let the food get cold?_ ”

Asami chuckles. She puts one of the bowls away, and fills the other bowl. "I'm not normally so...disorganised. I really haven't had much time, lately."

" _I know the feeling,_ " Korra says softly, " _and I'm not judging. Just concerned._ "

"I'll be fine," Asami snaps. "I don't need...ugh, I don't need to be so defensive, do I?"

" _Not with me. I hope._ "

Korra regrets the words and the softness of them the second that they're out there. Asami stares at her for a moment, startled. Then she slowly shakes her head.

"I'm sorry. I've been so...busy" Asami tucks a strand of hair behind her hair and leans her hip against the kitchen counter, casually breaking eye contact. She takes up her bowl and a pair of chopsticks and tries the food. "I didn't mean to...ah, thank you for this. It's good."

" _Warm enough?_ "

Asami snorts. "Compared to what I was going to eat? This is paradise."

Korra takes that to mean that it _isn't_ warm enough. She touches a finger to the underside of the bowl, and concentrates. She's still got a lot to learn about fire as an element. At first she thought she was a natural, that fire was easy, but then Aang explained that fire _wants_ to burn. Aang has shown her that calling for fire is easy, but _controlling_ it is far more difficult.

So even though the amount of energy it takes to heat up the contents of Asami's bowl is considerably less than is released in a huge burst of flame, it's much, much harder for Korra to do. She manages it this time without heating up the bowl to the point that it might burn Asami's fingers, and delighted as she is by her efforts, she's dizzied by them, too.

Korra leans against the wall beside the door, hoping that Asami doesn't realise that it's because she won't be able to stand upright for a few seconds, and methodically works on her breathing.

After a second's hesitation, Asami tries another piece of tempura. Her eyes widen at the puff of steam that escapes when she bites through the batter. "Oh! Wow, that's...impressive. Thank you!"

" _It's nothing,_ " Korra says evenly, as her heart rate slows and her leg muscles begin to feel less rubbery. " _All part of the hero service!_ "

She resolutely ignores Aang, who appears sitting cross legged on the heap of dirty dishes and shakes his head at Korra, grinning. 

Cheerfully, Aang says, "You know...you're probably going to have more Blue Spirit work to do tonight. You might want to ease up on the bending for a while."

Asami puts her bowl aside, swallows, and says, “There are a few things I really need to ask you...”

" _We've got plenty of time,_ " Korra says, shooting only a quick glance at Aang. " _Eat first, then we'll talk._ "

After a moment’s hesitation, Asami turns her attention back to the tempura. It quickly becomes clear, in the awkward silence that follows, that Asami is going to shovel food down her throat as quickly as she can and that if Korra just stands there, watching her, things will become _extremely_ awkward. 

So Korra clears her throat, gestures at the living room, and says, “ _Don’t rush. I'll just, uh...I'll wait through there?_ "

Asami thinks that over while she chews and swallows. Finally she meets Korra's eyes and nods. "Okay."

It's a simple word, but behind it is a weight of trust Korra can feel bearing down on her shoulders. Asami has a lot of secrets laid out in the other room, and she's allowing Korra free access to them. Except she isn't. She's granting access to the Blue Spirit, without knowing exactly who is behind the scarf.

Korra quickly turns away, and goes through to the living room. The moment she does, she freezes.

The room is full of ghosts.

Men and woman of various ages, wearing clothes from various _historical_ ages, are arrayed around Asami's apartment, packed in so tightly that some of them overlap, blurring into each other. All of them are a spectral, insubstantial blue, but here and there Korra can see a pair of green eyes, a red cloak, a brown beard...

It isn't the first time this has happened. Ever since Korra almost...died, she's been seeing more of her past lives. Most of them don't speak to her, and none of them are as constant in their attention as Aang and Kyoshi, but Korra has become aware of exactly how aware of _her_ her past lives are.

Sometimes it's impossible to see the real world through them all.

It can be a little scary, even if she's pretty sure that her past lives can't hurt her. Korra closes her eyes and concentrates on her breathing and on restoring the steady rhythm of her heart. When she opens her eyes again, the ghosts are gone.

Eager for something else to focus on, Korra looks for somewhere to sit. The only chair in the room that isn't occupied by books or papers is the chair by table. Korra hesitates, unwilling to take Asami's seat, which is when the article Asami had been reading catches her eye.

"Hey..." Korra murmurs as she angles the clipping towards her. "Is this...?"

Aang appears alongside her. "Hmm? Oh, look at that! My death made the paper!"

"And Asami found it."

Korra chews her lip, thinking frantically. She looks around, and spots three whiteboards covered in photographs, more news clippings, and Asami's meticulous handwriting. Korra walks towards the boards, sweeping her eyes over them, and stops when she sees that one of the boards is about...her.

Almost everything she's done as the Blue Spirit is laid out on this board. But there are a lot of other articles and sightings that are much older than Korra's activities. In fact, they're much older than _Korra_.

"Are these your...heroics?"

Aang appears at her shoulder. "That's my life. Part of it, anyway."

Korra skims the board. "Skydiving bank robbers?"

"The looks on their faces when I jumped out of their plane without a parachute!"

"The Dockside Arsonist?"

"Ugh. Land developers were behind it. That one was nasty, though. The arsonist was a young woman...just a girl, really. I tried to save her, but she got caught in one of her own fires, and...well, there were innocent people caught in the blaze..." Aang sighs. "Our powers allow us to do great things, Korra, but we have our limits. Something to bear in mind."

"I'm fine," Korra says automatically, her eyes still roving over the board.

"While I may be merely the memory of a dead monk, Korra, I'm not sure 'fine' is the word I'd use to describe your current state."

Korra glares at him. "So? I know I'm pushing myself, but if I don't, then the Red Lotus will...do whatever they're going to do. Which will be bad! An...unknown amount of bad, but if anything the unknown part makes it worse! What am I supposed to be doing differently, Aang?!"

Aang runs a hand over his bald scalp. "Well, I think you should do more yoga, for a start."

Korra folds her arms and ups the intensity of her glare. "Yoga. Your solution is yoga."

"I did say it was a starting point," Aang points out reasonably. "I just think you need to find more effective ways to manage your stress, Korra."

"My _stress_ is _fine_ , Aang!" Korra hisses through her clenched teeth. "I'm just a little...tired, that's all."

Aang sighs. "You said you were going to start bringing people together, Korra, but you've been...keeping almost everyone at a distance while you take all the burdens on yourself. You could afford to let other people help...oh, look! Asami!"

Korra flinches and whips around to find Asami standing in the kitchen doorway, watching her with a soft smile on her face. " _Oh! Hi, Asami! I was just...reading? Aloud? Which I sometimes do...I guess. How are you? Since, uh, five minutes ago?_ "

Asami raises an eyebrow. "I'm fine. Are...you okay?"

Carefully ignoring Aang's knowing grin, Korra says, " _Yeah! Absolutely!_ "

Asami slowly nods. "I...thanks. For the food. I, uh, didn't know how much I needed it. Things have been so hectic, or I wouldn't have..." Asami begins to gesture at the dismal heap of crackers, seems to think better of it just an instant too late, and uses her hands to push the mass of her lustrous black hair behind her ears. "I'm normally more organised."

Which Korra knows is...not a lie, but something of an exaggeration. She's been witness in the office to Asami's propensity to skip food and rest when she's on the trail of something. Korra's suddenly pierced by a feeling akin to guilt, but far more tender, at the thought that while Asami's been too busy to take care of herself, Korra's been too distracted to make sure that someone was taking care of Asami.

" _You're welcome. I thought...well, we all need taking care of, sometimes._ "

"Is that the only reason for the visit?" The corner of Asami's mouth quirks up. "Or should I say break-in?"

" _I definitely vote for visit. Even if it is a visit that involved climbing onto your roof, then climbing down the side of your building and superheroing your window open._ "

"I do appreciate that you didn't break anything during your break-in," Asami says gravely, her smile growing more pronounced. "But I would prefer it if you used the doorbell next time."

Korra chuckles. " _I'm not sure how that'd look to your neighbours, with the scarf. But I wanted to check in after the truck...incident._ "

Asami sighs. "Of course. Kuvira gave me the basics, although I do have questions. There are other things I want to talk about with you first, though. I have to ask..." She hesitates, then, in a soft tone she asks, "Is that the only reason you came in person? I...haven't seen you since the gallery. I actually wasn't sure if we were ever going to meet again in person."

That soft tone threatens to break something in Korra. As it is, she can feel something inside her fracture, near invisible cracks spreading through her, weakening her. Because while Asami needs to know about Opal, and the truck, and the warehouse, even, Korra's here because it's been thirty-eight days since she last saw Asami and that's too long.

And that...is something that she can't explain to Asami, so in as steady a voice as she can manage, Korra says, " _I tried to call, but your phone was off._ "

It answers the question Asami asked, but it is no kind of answer to the way she asked it, or the things she didn't ask aloud. Or maybe it does, because Asami simply nods and all traces of a smile disappear from her face like footprints in a blizzard.

Asami rolls her neck and stands up a little straighter. "I see. Well...maybe it sounds paranoid, but I keep my phones off when I'm working in here."

" _No, I...okay, that maybe does sound a little paranoid! It sucks that you have to think that way. But it sounds smart._ "

Asami raises an eyebrow. "Don't you have to think about these sorts of things too?"

Korra becomes extremely aware of how warm she is, wearing a scarf over her face and a hood over her head. " _Fair point. I guess I do._ "

"Yes. You have people to protect, don’t you? Family? Friends? A...patron? So, how do you do that?" Asami asks, tilting her head and exposing more of her long neck. "With your voice, I mean. For a start."

" _Oh!_ " Korra swallows. She's glad for a question she can answer relatively easily, even if she's already worried about what questions might come next. " _I'm manipulating the air as it leaves my mouth. It's...surprisingly easy to do now._ "

Asami purses her lips, which are an even deeper shade of red than before, Korra notices, in spite of how much she isn't staring at Asami's lips.

" _Why_ do you do it? Why do you disguise your voice?"

And just like that, Korra's worries are realised.

" _Force of habit, partly. Haha...ah, and, yeah...safety."_

Asami walks over to the table, where she sorts through the heaps until she finds a pad and a pen. She glances at Korra, eyebrows raised.

" _Another interview, huh?_ "

"Having notes helps me organise information. And I'm not a reporter any..." She pauses, and offers Korra a sheepish smile. "At the moment."

" _You're going back? That's great!_ "

"I...don't know." Asami sighs and fiddles with her hair again. "Given the way things went last time you came to talk to me, I didn't think you were a fan of my journalism."

" _Uh, well...I am, actually. I read you even before I was...well, this. I guess I get nervous when someone as smart as you tries to figure out what I don't want people to know._ "

"Which is why you're disguising your voice." Asami makes a note on her pad. She adds, in a perfectly neutral voice, "Even from me."

Korra winces, unsure whether or not she's glad that Asami can't see her face. " _If I told you who I was, directly or not, we'd both be in greater danger. I don't...I don't like having to keep things from you, Asami. I...hope you believe that._ "

Asami considers her for a moment. "It...would certainly be nice to believe in _something_ these days."

Korra jams her hands in her coat pockets, and turns back to the Blue Spirit board. After a few moments in which the only thing Korra can hear over the pounding of her heart is the swish of Asami's pen, Asami says, "So did you read anything interesting when you were...reading aloud?"

Korra winces. “ _Uh...haha! How much did you hear…?_ ”

“Not much. Although judging by the tone, it sounded almost more like...arguing than reading.”

“ _Which...it could not have been, because why would I argue with myself...out loud...in your apartment?_ ”

“Mmm,” Asami says, her tone unhelpfully neutral. “Interesting question. Are you going to answer mine?”

Aang appears in front of Korra by virtue of poking his face through the centre of the board. "It is your decision what you tell Asami, of course, but...uh, ghosts and reincarnation can be a tough sell."

"Aang, please! It's _r-word_! Oh...oh, right, I'm really not ready for this kind of conversation, huh?" Korra sighs. "But...I'm not going to lie to Asami anymore."

"Apart from about who you are and the fact that she already knows you? And that you still think about your date with her all the time, and-"

" _Yes_ , Aang! Apart from all of that stuff! You know, you've been _so_ helpful, why don't you take the rest of the night off?"

Aang bows his head, which at least means that Korra doesn't have to look at his grin anymore. "That's very kind! You know where to find me if you need me!"

"Yeah, in my big, dumb soul with all the other stupid ghosts," Korra mutters sullenly.

Korra faces Asami again.

Asami looks up at her, her gaze as sharp as her tone is mild. "I didn't catch that either. I suppose I wasn't supposed to, though. Are you wearing an earpiece? Some kind of...radio link? Who are you talking to when you mutter like that?"

Korra really wishes she was still looking at the whiteboard, or anywhere other than at Asami. " _I...don't have a radio, Asami. I'm...talking to myself._ " Which is not exactly a lie, but not as close to the truth as Korra would like and why does this have to be so _hard_? " _You can check my ears and my pockets, if you like._ "

Asami considers her for a painfully long moment, long enough for Korra to wonder if she's actually going to get her ears checked. At last Asami shakes her head. "Alright. You don't have a radio. The first time I saw you I thought you were alone...you aren't, are you? But whoever is behind you isn't paying you. Next question. Do you know something about the person in those stories?"

Korra does, of course. She could summon him back here with a thought, but...Asami wouldn't be able to see him, or hear him, and Korra would prefer it if Asami didn't think she was crazy. Well, crazier than she must already appear to be.

" _I don't know..._ " Korra trails off there, under Asami's sharp, almost angry gaze. It isn't Asami's first hint of real anger that gives Korra pause, though; it's her own. She's so _tired_ of having to lie, of having to live behind this mask. So she takes a breath, and starts again. " _I don't know how to put this, but he...the man in the articles used to be me. I'm not the first person to...uh, I guess inherit is the word? I'm...the latest person to get these powers. The way that I can...control things, it's...there have been...others."_

It's not much, but it's a start. It's a path towards larger truths. Korra's stomach twists, like she's on the down stretch of a roller coaster. Or like she's stepped off a cliff, maybe... 

"I thought there might be others," Asami says, her tone softening. "How many have there been? How many are there now?"

" _Um. There have been others before me. Uh...a lot of others._ " Korra walks to the side of the table opposite Asami. " _There's no one else now. It's...these powers come to one person at a time, Asami. I'm...different than Zaheer. I'm alone._ "

"I...see. Like everything else, that raises more questions, but..." Asami tilts her head, thinking. Her hair cascades across her shoulders in gentle waves. Her expression is impervious, impossible for Korra to read. At length she nods, and says, "So, you inherited your powers? How does _that_ work?"

" _Well...I'm not sure._ "

Asami stares at her. "Then how are you going to pass them on?"

" _That's the easy part!_ " Korra smiles, hoping that it'll register through her scarf somehow. " _I just have to...um, well...die._ "

"Oh." Asami's eyes widen. Korra wonders how the green of her irises has grown more verdant in the last month. "Oh. I'm...sorry."

" _Don't be! It's a job for life, after all. Not many people can say they have that kind of security!_ "

Asami chuckles softly, tension that had been slowly gathering in her body for the last few minutes melting away again. "True! Although...I got the impression that this isn't exactly the way you wanted to live the rest of your life. Was I wrong?"

" _...no,_ " Korra admits sheepishly. She gestures at her hood and scarf. " _Not like this, anyway. But I don't think I can keep taking this fight to the Red Lotus if they're in the shadows and I'm...exposed._ "

"Not to mention you have the RCPD after you." Asami smiles ruefully. "I do understand why you're hiding."

Korra sighs and her shoulders ease down further than they have in...roughly thirty-eight days. " _I'd also enjoy not getting shot at. Or...shot. That'd be pretty nice!_ "

"Those are modest ambitions, considering what you can do. You seem to be getting stronger, too."

" _I've been practicing,_ " Korra says quietly. She pulls her hands from her pockets and stares down at them. " _I'm supposed to help people. And I want to help people. I think that's a big enough ambition for me._ "

She looks up to find Asami staring at her, a strange and strangely open expression on her face. Korra still finds it difficult to read, but she can feel something shift in the air between them, and it has nothing to do with superpowers.

Asami quickly looks down, returning her attention to her pad.

"Well, ah, let's see...wait." Without looking up she deftly plucks the clipping about Aang's death from the other side of the table, and checks it. "If the powers pass on after death...according to this date, you'd have to have been a child when they came to you!"

" _You know, you're adjusting to all this faster than I did?_ "

Asami scribbles frantically in her pad. "I've had to get used to a lot of strange things recently. But that's what I don't understand. If this...earlier Blue Spirit died, and he passed his powers to you...weren't you born with them? But when I spoke to you before, this seemed like a recent change in your life. I don't...that doesn't add up."

" _I think I was supposed to know about my powers...figure them out when I was a kid, maybe, but I...didn't. It wasn't until much later, when the dreams got really bad, that I realised there was something...different about me._ "

"Dreams? What sort of..." Asami pauses. She very carefully puts her pen down and loosely clasps her hands in front of her. "I'm sorry. That must have been scary," she says softly. "I can't really imagine what that must have been like."

Korra runs her tongue over her suddenly dry lips. " _I...haven't really told anyone else about this stuff. I guess this is an exclusive!_ "

It isn't funny, so Korra appreciates the way Asami tries to smile for a second. Her smile quickly fades, though.

Quietly she asks, "What about...Raava? Don't you talk to her? I know this might be pushing, but...but the more I research the Red Lotus, the more I keep coming to the edges of something..." Asami shakes her head, frustrated. "Something I don't understand. And I _need_ to understand what's going on if I'm going to find him. Them. Find...the Red Lotus."

Korra groans. " _It's...not that simple, Asami. I want to...but you have to understand, you can't exactly...interview Raava._ "

Asami's hands separate and bunch into fists. "I will abide by any conditions you and Raava set, but I have to be able to talk to her!"

" _You...can't. She doesn't really speak the language._ "

"What? English?" Asami bangs her fist on the table. "I can hire an interpreter! Someone discreet!"

" _No, Asami...not English._ " Korra takes a deep, deep breath. She closes her eyes. " _Raava doesn't speak human._ "

Asami gasps. "What? What are you _talking_ about?"

Korra opens her eyes, only they aren't hers anymore. They blaze with light, washing the whole room in shades of blue. " _Raava is the Spirit of Light, Asami. And she's a part of me. Part of my...soul. She has been since the moment I was born, and she'll be with me until I die. And then...she'll be born again, joining with someone new, and the cycle will continue. That...is who Raava is, Asami. And I guess...I guess maybe that's the biggest part of who I am, too._ "

She pauses, biting her lip, and staring anxiously at Asami's stunned expression.

Korra blurts, " _I, uh, promise I am totally not crazy, by the way. So, uh, yeah. Thoughts?_ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading folks!
> 
> In the interests of keeping my brain functional, it'll be three weeks for the next update. I will try to get back on a fortnightly schedule again after that, though.
> 
> You know what's great? Comments are great. Just sayin'...


	18. New Sheriff In Town Pt. 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With apologies! Stuff happened, nothing dramatic or interesting, but time-consuming.

Lin Beifong is sitting in her office, reading the last report that she’ll read as a captain of the Republic City Police Department. There’s a reason why it has stayed at the bottom of Lin's In Tray until now: the report concerns nothing more pressing than the budget for next month's cleaning supplies. While it’s hardly the most important thing that Lin has had to deal with over the last month, it’s depressingly representative of the extent of the responsibilities that she’s been left with since the Blue Spirit and the Red Lotus crashed Su’s reception.

Lin has been shut out of the Red Lotus case. After the disaster at the gallery, someone needed to be held accountable. Since she was in charge of security at the event, that someone is Lin. The blame was placed on her, but it has all been arranged so...nicely. Lin was allowed to resign. She'll get her full pension. What she _won't_ get is any kind of answer, any kind of satisfaction, any kind of _justice_.

It’s no coincidence that the Task Force took her best detectives and all of her files on both the Red Lotus and Lin’s least favourite vigilante. Command have made it clear that they don’t want Lin anywhere near what have become very large and very _public_ cases. The price of Lin’s dignity is her professional reputation; it would be so _embarrassing_ for all the talking heads out there in the land of public relations if Lin were to do something as unthinkable as catch the actual criminals who are directly responsible for the violence, the fire, the kidnapping…

Lin screws her eyes shut, breathing through her clenched teeth. After a few moments she opens her eyes, cracks her neck, and snatches up her pen. She approves the report, and puts it in her Out Tray. Well... _the_ Out Tray. Technically she finished hours ago, but it'll only be when she leaves the precinct that she'll no longer have an office, as she’ll no longer be an officer of the law. 

After three decades in uniform, that's...going to be an adjustment. Lin touches her right pocket, feeling for the piece of paper that has been sitting there like a talisman throughout her final week. 

She grunts again. She decides to check through her desk drawers one last time, even though she already knows that there's nothing left in them. She pauses when she finds a stapler tucked in the back of her bottom drawer. Lin frowns, and picks it up. She tries to remember if she bought it or if it belongs to the department. After a couple of seconds she makes a disgusted sound and tosses it back in the drawer, slamming it shut with a nudge of her knee.

"Time to go," Lin declares, grimly, to her empty office.

Just as she’s getting to her feet, someone knocks on her closed door.

Lin frowns. If this is someone else looking to offer either their condolences or congratulations on her enforced retirement, Lin might just be able to work through some of her frustrations after all.

She sinks back into her chair, takes a deep breath and yells, “Come!”

The door opens halfway, revealing the compact form of Detective Shen. She was one of Lin’s better officers, until the Task Force scooped her up. Shen is solid physically and mentally. She’s methodical, disciplined, and brave without being foolhardy. She’s tough, works hard, complains less than average, and her impressive familiarity with violent physical techniques is surpassed only by her good judgement in knowing when to use them. 

Shen stays partly hidden behind the half open door. "Hey, Captain. Do you, uh, have a minute?”

Lin narrows her eyes. “I thought you’d be busy, detective. Isn’t the Task Force all over the bridge incident?”

“Ah…” Shen tries to cover her wince by running her hand over the stubble of her black hair. She’s kept it short for as long as Lin can remember. What Lin _can’t_ remember is the last time she saw Shen looking this uncertain. Shen hesitantly says, “It’s...ah, I am, but something...came up.”

Lin scowls at Shen, mainly because she isn’t sure what this is about. Lin’s scowl has proven a useful filter for problems too trivial to demand her attention in the past. Shen winces again, but she doesn’t retreat. Which means that this is something important. And given both that Shen knows that this is Lin’s last day _and_ that she doesn’t currently report to Lin, it must be something that she thinks only Lin can handle.

Which serves to rouse Lin’s curiosity. She touches the paper in her pocket again. For appearances sake, she rolls her eyes at Shen. “I’m leaving in five minutes. Come in. Shut the the door behind you. Talk fast.”

Shen does as she’s told. She chooses to stand in front of Lin’s desk. “It’s...I can’t take this to Saikhan. He was reckless tonight, when he called for the truck’s tires to be shot out? People could have died…” Shen trails off, but the uncertainty leaves her stance. Her expression hardens. “People would have died, if it wasn’t for the Blue Spirit.”

Lin digests that. The Blue Spirit is...someone Lin doesn’t understand. Lin has no problem understanding what the Blue Spirit _is_ : the Blue Spirit is a criminal. But how she does what she does, that’s something Lin hasn’t been able to figure out. The Blue Spirit knocked Lin and several of her officers down with a sweep of her hands, like they were nothing more than an _inconvenience_. Then, in spite of being shot and severely injured, the Blue Spirit somehow managed to escape Lin’s cordon without drawing any attention.

Lin is...curious as to how the Blue Spirit managed that. But as much as she'd like to track the Blue Spirit down, Lin wants to catch the Red Lotus so, so much more. _Especially_ Zaheer, who almost shot her niece, Opal. After all, Opal is one of the only relatives Lin has who she can actually stand having a conversation with on a semi-regular basis.

Lin isn’t going to be able to catch anyone as an ordinary citizen, though. She touches the paper in her pocket, and decides to see where this conversation might lead her. “Is this a formal complaint, Shen? Because you’re coming to the wrong person.”

Shen shakes her head. “No, Captain. It’s not that. I...I believe I have a line on the Blue Spirit. And on the new vigilante, the Jade Shade.”

Lin spends most of her time behind a desk these days, but she spent fifteen years as a detective and she has a hunter’s instincts still. Her heart speeds up. She leans her elbows on her desk and keeps her tone level only through an effort of will. “Sit. Tell me everything.”

So Shen sits and tells her about chasing the Red Lotus truck, the behaviour of the Jade Shade, the arrival of the Blue Spirit, and the subsequent escape of the vigilantes. And then, with increasing reluctance, she tells Lin about Mako’s unusual behaviour, and how she’d followed him out to an expensive house downtown. A woman dressed exactly like the Blue Spirit had left that house minutes later. Shen had tried to follow her, but the other woman had ducked down a narrow side street and apparently vanished.

Lin listens, making the occasional mental note, but not saying anything. Especially when Shen tells her the address of the house that she followed Mako to. She waits for Shen to lapse into silence, and lets the silence settle while she closes her eyes and sifts through everything Shen’s just told her.

After nearly a minute, Shen shifts in her seat and clears her throat. “Captain, I...I was on Opal Beifong’s protective detail. That house…”

Lin’s eyes snap open. Shen watches her, embarrassed but defiant. Lin grunts. “Her fiancé’s home. Bolin. Mako’s brother.”

Shen nods slowly. “Do you think that Opal could be…?”

A vigilante? An associate of the Blue Spirit? Neck deep in danger from both criminals and the police? Due to face her aunt’s considerable wrath?

Lin thinks that Opal is likely to be all of those things.

“Is my niece this new vigilante?” Lin grinds her teeth. “At the very least, I have to acknowledge the possibility. But I think you already have your own opinion about that, don’t you?”

“I...think Mako ditched me before he went out there because he’s trying to protect her. I don’t think he’d do that if it wasn’t someone he knew. And I think it’s clear that they’re both...acquainted with the Blue Spirit.”

“Who I’m very keen to finally have a proper conversation with.” Lin frowns. “Putting that aside, why bring this to me? You know the only thing that I can do is pass it on. I leave tonight.”

“I know,” Shen says, running her hand over her scalp. “I didn’t know who else to talk to. I don’t trust Saikhan to do what’s right, and...truth is, _I_ don’t what’s right anymore, Captain. I think…” Shen sighs. “I was hoping maybe you would.”

Lin has no idea how to respond to that. Shen’s faith in her is as unexpected as it is misplaced. Lin has no idea what to do, unless it’s to listen to her old instincts. But while Lin’s career might be over, Shen is still young and she’s an excellent detective. So Lin puts aside notions of what’s right, and focuses on what’s right for Shen.

Lin says, “Who are we hunting, detective?”

Shen blinks. “Uh...the Red Lotus are the priority, right? They should be…”

Lin nods. “I agree. Does that mean that we ignore vigilantes? That we should look the other way when people break the law?”

“I…” Shen shakes her head. Her shoulders tense. “ _Are_ there laws when it comes to superpowers? You should have seen those two tonight, Captain. The way the Blue Spirit stopped that truck...we’re not equipped to deal with something like that.”

Lin snorts. “Tactically? Not yet, but we’ll evolve. We always do. Legally? There are laws about assault, breaking and entering, obstruction of justice...don’t lose sight of that. And as much as I appreciate your faith in me, detective, I think you should put more faith in your own judgement. If you’re faced with one of these vigilantes again, think about what your job is, and do what you think is best.”

Shen rocks back in her seat, her jaw dropping. “Are...you trying to convince me to arrest your niece?”

“On what grounds?” Lin snaps. “Receiving detective Mako as a guest? The presence of a woman in a dark coat and scarf in her home? You have no evidence of wrongdoing, detective. You have no evidence of anything.” Lin locks eyes with Shen and spaces her words out deliberately. “I would say that your instinct not to bother Lieutenant Saikhan with this was the right one. This matter needs more...delicate handling than the Task Force seems capable of.”

“What about Mako…?”

Lin grunts. “Up to you how you want to handle him. He’s your partner, and not a complete idiot. Talk to him.”

“Okay. Uh…” Shen winces, then blurts, “What about you?”

“What about me? I’m about to become a private citizen. What can I do?” Lin touches the paper in her pocket and permits herself a tight sliver of a smile. “Of course, as a concerned aunt, I _will_ be having words with my niece concerning her recent behaviour. And if I learn of something that has a bearing on an active investigation, it would be my duty to report it to the appropriate authorities.”

“I...read you, ma’am.” Some of the tension eases out of Shen. “Okay, then. I...thanks for the talk, Captain.”

Lin nods. “Alright. Back to work, then.”

Shen quickly stands up. She walks briskly to the door, hesitates, and looks back. “It’s...been an honour, Captain Beifong.”

Lin rolls her eyes. “I’m not dying, Shen. And you still have a job here. Go do it.”

Shen smiles. She stands up straight, squares her shoulders, and says, “Yes, ma’am.”

Then she leaves, closing the door quietly behind her.

Lin grunts. She stares at her desk, thinking about everything she’s just learned. She thinks about the Blue Spirit, and what the vigilante might be able to tell her, and how that might lead her to the Red Lotus. Because Lin might not be a police officer after tonight, but Lin is still a hunter, and some instincts never die.

After a minute she pulls the piece of paper out of her pocket. For perhaps the hundredth time she reads over her new credentials as a state licensed private investigator.

“The brass think that because they can force me out, I’ll let this case go? Ha!” Lin tilts her head, thinking about how angry her sister is going to be when she finds about Opal. Lin smirks. “And I think I have a good idea about who my first client is going to be.”

She tucks her license back into her pocket and her anger back into her gut where it can simmer until she needs it later. Lin gathers her things, puts on her coat, and strides out of her office for the last time.

* * *

Asami retreats to the kitchen to make tea.

It’s soothing to be able to focus on a series of simple physical tasks while her mind tries to recover. First she fills the kettle with water and sets it to boil. Next she empties the used leaves from her teapot and rinses the mesh filter. Then she has to scrub both filter and pot. By the time she’s done that, the kettle has boiled. Since tea should never be made with boiling water, Asami takes the lid off of the kettle to help the water cool. Next she opens the cupboard where she keeps her tea leaves and, after considering for a moment, she selects a green tea infused with jasmine.

Each action is a simple, mundane thing that allows Asami to delay the moment that she has to make a decision about what the Blue Spirit just told her. There are so many thoughts tripping over each other in her mind, but beneath them all is the knowledge that Asami needs to make a decision that she doesn’t know how to make. Can Asami afford to believe in spirits and souls and impossible, unquantifiable things? Can she dare to hope that if she _does_ , it will somehow lead her to her father?

Asami can’t answer those questions right now, so she lets them sink back down into the depths of her mind. She breathes and adds tea leaves to the filter, puts it back into the teapot, and pours in the sufficiently cooled water. She breathes and digs a mismatched pair of mugs out of the back of another cupboard. She breathes and readies herself to go back into her living room.

Outwardly, she’s composed. But the Blue Spirit’s revelation is too big for her to process. Perhaps a couple of months ago, the idea of a reincarnating superhero would have fired her imagination and roused her scepticism in equal measure. She would have been thinking of questions, exploring implications, looking for tests, looking for _proof_.

Now, the thought that rises up above the others is that Raava is real, and likely possesses a wealth of information that could help Asami find her father, but that information is entirely out of her reach. Asami takes a moment to give in to her anger. Her teeth clench and her hands shake, rattling the mugs and spilling a few fragrant drops onto her kitchen floor. Then she sighs, and tries to calm herself. She takes another breath, and goes back into the living room.

The Blue Spirit is still standing awkwardly near Asami’s table, looking through some of the papers Asami has laid out there. She isn’t glowing anymore, which is something of a relief. She looks up at Asami, and even under a hood and behind a scarf her expression is obviously nervous.

“ _Hey,_ ” she says quietly, backing away from the table and shoving her hands into her pockets. “ _Um...you okay?_ ”

Asami’s anger abruptly drains out of her, because if there’s one person whose fault all of this isn’t and who has the greatest right to be confused and frightened by recent events, it’s the woman in front of Asami. Asami puts on the best smile she can manage and says, “Fine. Well....still processing, but look, please sit down. You’re...welcome here.”

The Blue Spirit hesitates then lowers herself into the only unoccupied seat at Asami’s table. Asami doesn’t think she imagines the quiet sigh of relief that escapes the other woman’s lips. “ _Thanks...Asami._ ”

It’s hard to tell when the Blue Spirit’s voice sounds like a breeze rustling the branches in a pine forest, but there’s...warmth invested in the way that she says Asami’s name.

Asami tries to keep her expression neutral. She’s had years of practice, in her role as a journalist and as her father’s daughter and as a child who no longer had a mother and had to pretend to the world that she was coping with that loss. She puts the teapot and mugs on the table, grabs a precariously stacked heap of folders and papers from a chair opposite the Blue Spirit and dumps them on her sofa.

There’s a slithering, rustling sound as the pile collapses, sending folders and papers cascading to the floor. Asami ignores it. She walks back to the table, picks up the chair and moves it so that she can sit on the same side of the table as the Blue Spirit, with nothing between them.

Asami sits and pours herself a cup of tea. She smiles ruefully, gesturing at the Blue Spirit’s face. “I brought a second cup out of habit.”

“ _Oh. Yeah._ ” The Blue Spirit still has her hands in her pockets and her shoulders are tense. “ _I didn’t think you were trying to...I trust you, Asami. You know, I haven’t exactly told anyone about Raava before._ ”

Asami purses her lips. “I see. I...can we leave that aside for a moment?”

The Blue Spirit blinks. “ _Uh...I thought you’d have a million questions! Or maybe that you’d kick me out…_ ”

“I told you, you’re welcome here.” Asami takes a sip of tea and sighs. “I _do_ have questions, but more importantly...you must be exhausted.”

It really shouldn’t have taken Asami this long to realise it, but after the night she’s had, the Blue Spirit must be in greater need of rest and food than Asami is. And yet, the Blue Spirit put Asami’s needs ahead of her own.

“ _Ah, no, I’m fine._ ” The Blue Spirit straightens up in her seat. She shoots an almost irritated glance to her side before focusing on Asami again. “ _...basically fine._ ”

“Really?” Asami shakes her head. “I think that’s the least believable claim you’ve made so far. Hold on.”

Before the Blue Spirit can protest, Asami gets up and goes back through to the kitchen. She finds her last clean bowl and transfers the last of the tempura and noodles from their containers into the bowl. She carries the bowl back into the living room and puts it in front of the Blue Spirit along with a fresh set of chopsticks.

The Blue Spirit stares at her as Asami pours her a cup of tea. “ _Uh...you don’t need to--_ ”

“Eat,” Asami says firmly. “And drink your tea. I’ll wait in my bedroom. Let me know when you’re done.”

Asami takes her laptop and notepad and walks away, intending to forestall any argument. She looks back when the Blue Spirit clears her throat and says, “ _Asami?_ ”

“Yes?”

“ _Thanks.”_

Asami smiles again, and finds it’s a little easier to manage this time. “It’s the least I could do. Just...don’t run out on me?”

“ _Ha! I won’t!_ ” She hesitates. Her eyes unfocus and her inhuman and beautiful voice softens. “ _Well, unless something comes up. Stuff comes up sometimes…or, all the time these days._ ”

“Eat. I’m just through here.”

Asami gestures at her bedroom door and, when she gets a nod from the Blue Spirit, she goes into her room and closes the door behind her. She leans against it, thinking. And while there are a lot of things she should be focused on, Asami finds she can’t stop thinking about the Blue Spirit’s eyes.

Her _real_ eyes, not the way that they glow when Raava is looking out through her.

Asami shakes herself. She pushes off the door and crosses the room to her bed. She dumps her laptop and her notebook on one side and herself on the other. Asami sits upright, propping her back against her pillows and leaning the back of her head against the headboard. She fully intends to open her notebook and start working out the questions she needs to ask, but instead she falls almost instantly asleep.

Asami wakes up when someone gently shakes her shoulder. In spite of how groggy she is, Asami somehow knows exactly who is in her bedroom. So Asami finds it easy to override her instinct to seize the hand on her shoulder and apply a wrist lock. She simply blinks herself awake and nods at the Blue Spirit. “Hi.”

It’s a little frightening to discover how quickly Asami’s guard has come down in the other woman's presence. In her post-nap haze, Asami is disturbed to find that the first thought to arise out of the jumble in her mind is that the Blue Spirit’s hand feels pleasantly warm on her shoulder. She tries to remember the last time someone touched her affectionately, and realises that it was Korra, at the gallery. _That_ thought makes her sit up and shake her head, trying to clear it.

The Blue Spirit backs away a couple of steps. “ _Sorry. I knocked, but…_ ”

Asami nods. She sweeps her hair behind her shoulders, mostly so that she has something to do with her hands. “It’s fine. I guess I was more tired than I thought.”

The Blue Spirit raises an eyebrow, then suddenly chuckles.

“What?” Asami finds her lips curling up in response to the other woman’s laughter. “That’s not funny!"

“ _No, probably not. It’s just…_ ” She spreads her hands, chuckling again. “ _We both kinda suck at looking after ourselves unless someone makes us, huh?_ ”

“You may have a point.” Asami swings her legs over the side of her bed, planting her feet on the floor. “For example, you should be sitting down.”

The Blue Spirit’s eyes stray to the seat at Asami’s vanity, but Asami pats the mattress beside her. “Plenty of room here.”

She hesitates, but eventually the Blue Spirit warily lowers herself onto Asami’s bed. She leaves a clear foot of space between them. She looks at Asami, her blue eyes uncertain, and says, “ _So…_ ”

“So.” Asami rolls her head, feeling her stiff muscles crack. “Questions.”

“ _Yeah. I’ll answer what I can, Asami. But I might not have the answers you want. Or…_ ” She sighs, looking down at her hands which rest palm up on her lap. “ _I might not have answers you’ll believe._ ”

Asami considers that. She twists around and scoops up her notepad. She opens it and flips to her most recent notes. “Well, I think that some extent belief is a matter of asking the right questions.”

“ _I’m...not sure how many people would agree with you on that one._ ”

“Oh? Do you think there’s no room for questions when it comes to belief? Don't questions--questions you can't answer any other way--shape belief?"

The change in topic seems to catch the Blue Spirit off guard, as Asami had hoped it would. The Blue Spirit brings her knee up onto the bed and twists to face Asami. “ _I...guess there is. I don’t know much about faith, really. I know I asked a lot of questions when this started happening to me. Questions like: was I going crazy? But...I guess I found some of the answers._ ”

"Where did you find your answers? In your...dreams?”

The Blue Spirit sighs. “ _It started with the dreams. And the dreams started when I was a kid. I dreamed about...ah, weird stuff. Dragons. Strange...creatures. A man. A...monk. I dreamed about him a lot, and it seemed like he was trying to talk to me, tell me things, but...it was just dreams!_ ”

“A monk?” Asami raises her eyebrows. She finds herself suddenly reluctant to ask the question she needs to ask. “Was that...Raava?”

The Blue Spirit shakes her head. “ _No. Well, not exactly. It was...uh, it was the last person to have these powers before me. To have Raava._ ” She pauses, looking off to the side. “ _Who...we’re going to call Kuzon? Yeah, okay, Kuzon._ ”

Asami blinks. “What…? Why did you--”

“ _Ah, haha! Anyway, uh, Kuzon appeared to me in my dreams, but I didn’t think much of it. Later I sort of...daydreamed him? He became...like, an imaginary friend when I was a kid, but I still didn’t think anything about it. I didn’t have powers to worry about back then._ ”

Asami makes a quick note in her pad, then hesitates. After chewing things over for a second, she asks, “Were you lonely?”

The Blue Spirit tenses. “ _I...I mean, there weren’t a lot of other kids my age where I grew up._ ”

“I was mostly homeschooled when I was young.” Asami says into the silence that follows. “After my...my mother…” Asami swallows and looks down at her hands. “My father wanted me close. Even though he didn’t spend much time at home, because of work. I went to a boarding school later, but I wasn’t...popular.”

Asami tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and looks up, smiling at the Blue Spirit. “What I loved most growing up was being allowed to attend martial arts classes. I needed sparring partners, you see, and my father made the mistake of encouraging me to learn to defend myself, so he couldn’t say no when I insisted on going to classes. It’s how I met Opal. We’ve been friends since I was twelve.”

It’s hard to say if she smiles, but the Blue Spirit seems to relax. “ _My dad was a marine unarmed combat instructor. He started teaching me to fight when I was five. Didn’t want me getting bullied at school. Or, uh, ever._ ”

Asami laughs. “I like the sound of him already.”

“ _I have pretty great parents._ ” She pauses. “ _They don’t live here. I miss them._ ”

There’s so much sympathy in the Blue Spirit’s voice and in her eyes, but if Asami isn’t careful she knows that she could drown in the swelling tide of grief rising within her. She clears her throat. “Do they know that you have powers?”

“ _No. I only really found out six months ago._ ”

Asami nods. She has no idea how she’d tackle that kind of conversation, so she decides not to point out that six months is a long time. Instead she asks, “You didn’t tell them about your dreams?”

The Blue Spirit sighs. “ _I mean, yeah...but we all thought they were just dreams, y’know?_ ”

“But they weren’t. So...what were they?”

“ _Kuzon was sort of...speaking on behalf of Raava._ ” She hesitates, eyes narrowing as she frowns into the distance. “ _Uh, he was trying to...wake my conscious mind to my connection with Raava. There was...some kind of...subconscious block? Which...huh._ ”

Asami stares hard at the other woman. The Blue Spirit’s frown deepens but her eyes are focused somewhere else. It’s not the first time Asami’s noticed her habit of...drifting off elsewhere. But now that Asami has more data to work with, she can make a better guess as to why.

Asami knows that she’s going to sound ridiculous if she’s wrong, but instinct makes her say, “You’re talking to Kuzon now, aren’t you?”

The Blue Spirit’s head whips round, her eyes wide with shock. “ _Huh? Uh, what? I...that’s…_ ” She shakes her head, takes a few slow breaths, and says, simply, “ _Yeah. I was._ ”

Ignoring the prickling in her scalp and the goosebumps spreading across her arms, Asami lets out a breath of her own. “So that means...actually, I have no idea what that means. But...maybe talking to Raava isn’t impossible after all?”

The Blue Spirit continues to stare at her, eyes roaming over Asami’s face. “ _That...you don’t think I’m crazy?_ ”

That gives Asami pause. “I...think I can’t afford for you to be crazy. I think...I think I would have if you’d tried to tell me these things two months ago. But that was before. I’ve seen your powers in action, I’ve seen Zaheer gain powers from an old statue. That’s something I don’t _understand_ , but just because it doesn’t make sense doesn’t mean it isn’t true. A spirit of light and a…”

“ _Ghost monk,_ ” the Blue Spirit supplies when Asami struggles to find the right word. “ _Because Aa...ahem, Kuzon was a monk, and now he’s a ghost…_ ” She trails off, snorts, and throws up her hands. “ _Fine, fine! He’s a memory, not a ghost! He’s...Raava’s memory of the...uh, of the soul he used to be._ ”

Asami makes a careful note of that information in her notebook, her hand only slightly shaking. “So...he _is_ Raava? Or, how Raava talks to you?”

The Blue Spirit shakes her head. “ _No, no. He’s him. I don’t know what happens to, uh, souls after...but whether he’s a memory or a ghost or whatever, Kuzon is Kuzon. He’s part of Raava, and so he's...part of me, but he’s still him. He understands Raava better than I do, but it’s still not exactly direct contact. Trying to understand Raava is like...well, it’s like learning to understand information from a whole new set of senses. It’s not like a language, it's more like I can get a sense of Raava's feelings. It's...weird._ ”

Asami nods, frowning at her pad and trying to gather her thoughts. "Okay. Let's go back a minute. You said Kuzon was trying to reach out to you when you were younger. Is that...normal?"

The Blue Spirit raises her eyebrows. " _Uh, none of this is normal. Haven’t you been listening to the crazy stuff I've been telling you?_ "

"Fair point," Asami acknowledges with a smile. "I'll rephrase: is that normal relative to the rest of this...crazy stuff?"

The Blue Spirit chuckles. " _You're picking up the technical terms pretty fast!_ " She tilts her head to the side, presumably listening to the voice of her predecessor. " _I should have awoken to my powers when I was young. Kuzon says he was six the first time he bent air. Um, bending is what ghost monk calls using my superpowers. He makes a face every time I say superpowers instead of bending, too, which is one reason I like saying superpowers so much._ "

"You...tease the memory of the superheroic monk who is advising you?"

The Blue Spirit blinks. " _I mean, yeah? But, hey, no! He started it! He teases me all the time!_ "

"I...see." Asami shakes her head. "That's...is _that_ normal?"

" _From what I can tell, yeah,_ " The Blue Spirit mutters sullenly, making Asami smile in spite of the strangeness of it all. The Blue Spirit tilts her head again, sighs, and says, " _Aa...ah, ahem, Kuzon says he received his instruction from his predecessor, a man called Roku, when he became aware of his powers. And Roku wasn't keen on teasing. Oh, wait. Is he the one with the big beard? Yeah, okay. He seems...strict._ "

Asami blinks. "Wait, you've met Roku, too?"

The Blue Spirit ducks her head. " _Uh, yeah. I've met all of them, I think._ " Before Asami can even begin to frame her next question, the Blue Spirit murmurs, " _There have been nearly three hundred people before me who carried Raava. I...hold pieces of them inside me. Only a couple of them talk to me often, but...I can feel them there._ "

It sounds impossible, but everything about the Blue Spirit is impossible, and even if she has kept things from Asami, Asami believes in the Blue Spirit's sincerity. It's still a lot to process. Too much, in fact. So Asami decides to accept the Blue Spirit's account as being true for now, and to worry about the metaphysics of it all later. Much later, when the Red Lotus have been defeated and when her father is safe.

She turns to a fresh page in her pad and begins scribbling notes. "If you have access to all those people, to their memories, then surely there must be something in there that can help us against the Red Lotus?"

The Blue Spirit lets out a sigh, her frustration making it sound more like a growl. " _I know they tangled with, uh, Kuzon. They're the ones who dropped a building on him. But I haven't been able to find out much about them. Or anything about the lion-turtles! Not to mention the elemental essences or what Zaheer's ultimate goal might be. It's like…_ " The Blue Spirit trails off, frowning intently. " _It's like there's a...gap. I can find traces, pieces of information, but it doesn't all add up the way it should._ "

Asami writes frantically, shooting quick glances at the Blue Spirit. The other woman remains silent, her brow furrowed, her eyes distant. Asami waits for a moment, but when the silence in the room thickens, she clears her throat, and the Blue Spirit's eyes snap into focus. She looks at Asami, eyebrows raised.

Asami says, "You said several things I don't understand. Maybe talking them over with me might help you define the edges of the...gap you mentioned? And that might give us both a target to go after."

The Blue Spirit's eyes soften. " _That would be good. It's nice to be able talk about this stuff with someone who isn't living in my head. Or, uh, is living the right word to describe a ghost?_ "

"I’d...rather not speculate."

“ _Good call,_ ” the Blue Spirit says, laughing softly. “ _You probably don’t want to get caught up in my weirdness anymore than you have to._ ”

Asami pauses, brushing her hair behind her ear. "It’s...a lot to take in, but…” Asami hesitantly lays her hand on the other woman’s shoulder. “I’m here. Okay?”

The Blue Spirit tilts her head back and blows out a breath. Then she looks at Asami and nods. “ _Okay._ ”

Asami lets her hand linger for a few seconds before she reclaims her pen and turns her attention back to her pad. “So. Zaheer used an old statue, a...lion-turtle, to give himself air powers. Or rather, somehow he used _Opal_ to...do what, exactly?"

" _Release the essence of air. It's...not exactly a spirit like Raava, but more of a...force? It fuels air superpowers. Airbending. The statue was...some kind of seal. Or lock, maybe, keeping the essence of air, uh, asleep. When Opal unlocked the statue, it woke up. My air powers got much stronger for a few seconds around that moment, but I could already airbend. I have the power...it's learning how to use it properly that's been the challenge. But Zaheer didn't have airbending, so when he was exposed to the essence of air, it gave Zaheer his new powers._ "

"He used them immediately," Asami muses. "He seemed to know how to use his powers properly."

" _Yeah. Which means he's had training. He...might be a better airbender than me, if he’s been practicing the forms for long enough. It does seem like the Red Lotus know a lot of things about bending. And about Raava. I think..._ " The Blue Spirit sighs. " _I think they've got access to old records, old secrets. There must have been a time when things were different, when other people could use elemental powers, too. And the Red Lotus have been gathering information about that time, learning the secrets of bending, and now they're starting to put them to use. I...think._ "

"Wait." Asami pauses in her notetaking. "You don't _know_?"

" _No. Not for sure._ " The Blue Spirit springs to her feet and begins to pace agitatedly around Asami's room. " _That's the best I've been able to piece together, though. Based on what happened and what, ah, Kuzon has told me._ " She pauses beside Asami's vanity, her eyes settling on the picture of Asami's mother in its silver frame. " _I don't know, and I know it isn't the whole picture, but...it feels right._ "

The Blue Spirit turns to face Asami fully. " _I think there used to be all kinds of people who could bend the elements. I think something happened which changed that, and whatever it was left the essences trapped and someone like me the only one with this power. I think the Red Lotus found out about it, and I think they're trying to bring bending back. I think there are three more lion-turtles out there, each locking away another elemental essence. Earth, fire, and water. Everything I can do is based on those four powers. Four powers, four essences. All locked away somehow._ "

"And Zaheer wants them."

" _Yeah. I think they're the keys to something bigger, though. But I have no idea what._ " She sighs. " _You know, I thought that with the essence of air released, there would have been...more happening. But so far, it's like the lion-turtle was a locked door to a vault. Zaheer broke the lock but he could only open the door a little bit before it got stuck. Maybe that's why only two people can airbend. So far._ "

Asami stares at her. " _Two_?"

The Blue Spirit winces. It's hard to read her facial expression behind the scarf, of course, but Asami is learning to watch the other woman's eyes, the skin around them, and the way the visible part of her brow moves beneath her hood.

" _Uh..._ "

And really, the Blue Spirit's hesitation cements the immediate suspicion in Asami's mind into a terrible certainty. "Zaheer and...Opal. She was there and she was the one who actually unlocked the statue..."

The Blue Spirit nods. " _Yeah...she can airbend. She's the Jade Shade, Asami. She's the one who stopped the Red Lotus crew stealing your truck. She didn’t know we were trying to track it. She thought she was helping._ "

“Oh, Opal…” Asami rubs her brow, pierced with guilt at the realisation that she’s been neglecting her best friend. She pauses as a new thought occurs to her. "I was in that room, too. So was my father. Could I have...?"

The Blue Spirit shakes her head. " _I don't know how this works exactly, but I think if you'd been affected, you'd have noticed by now. Opal worked it out for herself within a couple of weeks._ "

"I see." Asami isn't sure if she's relieved or disappointed by that news. Then she gasps and her pen falls out of her suddenly numb fingers. "Oh, no. It's really true. Opal has superpowers. Opal _Beifong_."

" _Kinda terrifying, huh?_ " The Blue Spirit chuckles. " _But I can think of much worse people to have them, Asami. You, uh, might want to start taking her calls again, by the way._ "

Asami winces. "I wanted to, but I've been so busy, and..."

" _And?_ " The Blue Spirit asks, her voice soft. “ _You’ve always been busy, right?_ ”

"I...yes." Asami shakes her head, smiling ruefully. "I wanted to keep her out of all this. Now that Zaheer got what he wanted from her, I thought she'd be safe if she stayed clear of me."

" _I thought pretty much the same thing. I...think pretty much the same thing about everyone. Zaheer has plans I don't understand, Asami, but I'm part of them. Well...Raava is part of them. Somehow. So...how can I let people get close if I know it..._ I _could hurt them? Is it more selfish to lie to people or to let them in, when they could get hurt?_ "

There's an almost pleading note to that question, as if the Blue Spirit needs Asami to understand why she keeps the secrets that she keeps. "I...don’t think you’re selfish. For what that’s worth.”

“ _From you? It, ah, it means a lot,_ ” the Blue Spirit says softly.

“Look at us," Asami says, her lips curving into a gentle smile. "Maybe we're so bad at looking after ourselves because we're too busy thinking we need to look after everyone else."

" _Heh. I'm clearly way better at looking after myself than you,_ " the Blue Spirit says, a smile in her voice. " _I miss less meals than you. But you're probably right. It's...a hard habit to break, though._ "

Asami nods slowly. There is still so much she doesn't understand, but she feels like she understands the Blue Spirit much better now. The mask she wears is not meant to protect her identity from her enemies, it's one of the ways she tries to protect the people in her life. Those two ideas might seem similar, but to Asami there is a crucial difference. Abruptly, she comes to a decision. Or, rather, a series of decisions, about not just what to do next, but what to _be_.

She wants to be someone that the Blue Spirit can depend on. She wants the Blue Spirit to be able to take off her mask around Asami. All of her masks. The way to do that is not to ask questions like: if Kuzon has been visiting the Blue Spirit since she was a child, why does she keep tripping over his name? And if Kuzon is not his name, why hide it from Asami? Unless, of course, it's a name that Asami might recognise?

Asami certainly can't ask a question like: why does the Blue Spirit look at her with such longing when she thinks that Asami isn't paying attention?

No, Asami needs to try something else, something harder. She needs to try to trust more. And not just the Blue Spirit, but all the people in her life. Asami closes her notepad. She stands up, stretches, and fights off a yawn. "I have an idea. You say you've spoken to some of your...memories. But not all of them?"

" _Kind of? There are a lot of them, and not all of them are talkative. And I only have so much time..._ "

Asami nods. "Then I'll help you pinpoint which memory you need to talk to."

The Blue Spirit blinks. " _How? I've asked about the lion-turtles, but...none of the memory ghosts knew anything._ "

"Maybe they know but you weren't asking the right questions. Maybe they know something, but don't know that they know it. Either way, I think I can help you work out exactly who you _should_ be talking to, which should help us work out exactly what information we're missing. And then we can work out how to find _that_ information. And if we do that...maybe we can find _them_."

And find her father in the process.

" _You make that sound so easy._ "

"The Red Lotus managed to work out the secrets of the lion-turtles. That means we can, too."

" _I...think the Red Lotus may have more resources than we do, Asami._ "

Asami smirks at her. "I'm not sure how to put this, but...I'm a Sato. I don't know much about the supernatural, but I know how to follow a lead. And as the current head of Future Industries...I have a _lot_ of resources." Asami's smirk softens into a smile as an idea occurs to her. Her stomach tightens at the thought of putting that idea into practice. She takes a breath, steadying herself, and says, "And as it happens, I know the perfect person to help me track down the clue we need."

For a moment, the Blue Spirit hesitates, confusion and doubt obvious in her eyes. But her expression slowly clears and she slowly nods. " _Okay. Thank you. How can I help?_ "

Asami's smile widens at the question. Her stomach gives another, not unpleasant twist. Her voice comes out soft, perhaps too soft. "Oh...just keep being you. I'll, uh, let you know when I have the information you need. In the meantime..." Asami's voice trails off when she sees the Blue Spirit's expression shift again, becoming worried. "What's wrong?"

" _Fire..._ "

Asami quickly shoves her fear aside at that word and sorts through her many questions for the right one. She settles on: "How can I help?"

The Blue Spirit blinks, focusing on her again.

Asami spreads her hands. "Something's come up, and you need to go. I understand. How can I help?"

The Blue Spirit sucks in a breath and blows it out slowly. Tension gathers in her body, but it isn’t fear or doubt, it’s like the coiling of a spring. " _You already have. It's the University, Asami. Something's burning...and it's no accident._ "

She's on the move before she's finished speaking, striding purposefully towards Asami's bedroom window. She throws it open and hops up onto the windowsill. 

Asami says, "I'll be awake. And I'll have my phone. Call me if you need anything."

The Blue Spirit looks back at her and nods.

Before she leaps away, Asami finds herself stepping forward and blurting, "I don't understand all of this, but...I believe. I believe in you."

The Blue Spirit face is almost invisible to her, but Asami can see her eyes. They light up, not with Raava's power, but with a strength all the Blue Spirit's own. In that moment, that light seems greater than Raava's to Asami.

The Blue Spirit leaps out into the night.

Asami watches her vanish into the darkness, shivering when the cool air touches her. She closes the window and goes to the hall to fetch her phone. She pauses at the end table her phone sits on, staring at her car keys.

She thinks about the sleepless night ahead, locked in her apartment, alone.

Asami makes a decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading folks!
> 
> And thanks to cd_fish for providing beta support. Remaining goofs are all mine.
> 
> I'd like to say the next one will be up in two weeks, but I think three is more likely. This is a realistic three, though. I pinkie promise.
> 
> See you in the comments!


	19. New Sheriff In Town Finale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a wee bit late, sorry! It's been a busy few weeks...

Alexis Donnelly has a theory. It goes like this: there is no tradition either too sacred or too dumb that a student committee cannot build a dance around it.

Case in point, the party happening at Republic City University right now. Alexis is on the student committee that planned tonight’s campus-based depravity and the tradition they've chosen to exploit is very much dumb: The Festival of Holy Lights. Falling about a month before Halloween, Republic City’s own, smaller--and much dumber--holiday has a similar theme. 

The Festival of Holy Lights is supposed to celebrate the time of year when the physical world and the spiritual world are in close alignment. Or… _something_ like that. Republic City celebrates Halloween, but--as far as Alexis is aware--pretty much _no one_ has celebrated the Festival of Holy Lights for over a century.

Alexis’ friend Marco, an anthropology student and her event-planning partner in crime, told her a month ago that back when Republic City was a tiny village, some of the early European settlers used to spend one day of the year worshipping mysterious lights in the sky. Back then, the theory goes, people thought that the lights were mystical spirits who needed to be celebrated or maybe placated.

According to Marco, anthropological thought is split on whether the festival originates in some kind of Northern Lights type phenomenon or some form of hallucinogenic effect resulting from something the ancient European guys’ ate one time. Whatever it was, some of the descendants of those European guys settled in what’s now Republic City, and they brought their traditions with them.

Exactly what one did to mark the holy day has been lost to time, or at least, it was lost to Alexis. Because she maybe kinda tuned out of the rest of Marco’s explanation to give her full attention to the brilliant plan forming in her mind. Said plan being: host a big party on campus under the guise of a cultural event.

It seemed perfect inasmuch as the Festival of Holy Lights is something that no one actually takes seriously but which _does_ have a serious history. A history apparently unique to the region, too.

Getting approval was _stupidly_ easy, in the end. A few carefully-worded emails, a well-prepared pitch to the faculty, and for the first time in a century, the Festival of Holy Lights was back on.

Of course, Alexis’ event has pretty much nothing in common with the original festival, other than, maybe, the many-coloured decorations and banners Alexis helped hang around the quad and the hall they’re using for the dance. Still, Alexis would like to think that those early settlers or even their European Ancestors would still have had a good time. Who doesn’t like dancing and semi-licit drinking?

As far as Alexis can tell from her spot near the DJ’s booth, pretty much everyone seems to be having a good time. And since it’s the first big party in the new academic year, pretty much everybody seems to _be_ here, too. There are maybe a couple of hundred students crammed into the hall, and even more out in the quad, and judging by all the smiles she can see, they’re all happy.

In fact, about the only person who isn’t having a good time is Alexis. Or at least, she isn’t having as good a time as she should be, and that’s down to the one person who _isn't_ here.

Marco catches her checking her phone for the hundredth time tonight, and catches her hundredth grimace of disappointment. He leans in and yells over the music, “What’s with you? I thought you’d be celebrating your triumph!”

He waves at the crowd, the hall, the flashing lights, the glittery, abstract shapes hung around the hall to represent the spirits. 

Alexis tries for a smirk. “Oh, Marco! Gloating is for the needy!”

Marco blinks. He leans in again and roars, “What?”

Alexis rolls her eyes and nods in the direction of the fire exit. After a solid minute of squeezing past sweaty revellers, she and Marco slip out into a relatively quiet corner of the quad. It’s getting late, and the night has become chilly. Above the dark stone buildings that rise above them on all sides, the lights of the city are reflected and diffused by a thickening layer of cloud, presaging rain.

Alexis sighs. She’s wearing a long, green A-line dress that looks and feels great and is as warm as her father’s tone of voice when Alexis asks him for another advance on her allowance. 

She and Marco take what shelter they can under the sculpture that occupies one corner of the grounds, enclosed on two sides by the dressed stone walls of the RCU campus. The sculpture consists of three silvery metallic cuboids mounted on axles at the top of a long pole. Each of the cuboids slowly and endlessly spins around, without there being any obvious mechanism powering them. Alexis has no idea how it works, much less what--if anything--it’s meant to represent. 

Her friend Qi Ruma would probably know.

Marco nudges her. “So what’s up? You’ve barely danced. You’ve kinda just been staring at your phone all night.”

Alexis sighs.

“Oh yeah, and sighing a lot.”

Alexis winces. She buys herself a few seconds while she fumbles her vape out of her purse. “I...I guess I’m not in the party mood.” She takes a drag and breathes out a plume of strawberry-scented smoke in the direction of one of the banners advertising the dance. “No offense, spirits! I hope you’re enjoying tonight, my non-corporeal friends.”

“I thought you were an atheist.”

“I’m agnostic.”

“What’s the difference?”

“I can talk to spirits that probably don't exist, because they only _probably_ don’t exist. And I mean...we have a superhero now. And she’s _called_ the Blue Spirit! Who’s to say there isn’t something to these...other spirits?”

Marco snorts. “Oh, please! This whole Blue Spirit thing is a total hoax. She is--if she’s in any way real--just a weirdo in a mask. I’m embarrassed you’re falling for the hype.”

“I’m not falling for anything, I’m open-minded. Agnostic, remember?”

“Whatever. Look, I’m freezing and you’re stalling.”

Alexis just manages to bite back another sigh. “I was...hoping someone would make it tonight.”

Marco raises his eyebrows and smirks. “Oh, _really_? Who...wait, not that weird girl?”

“Ruma is not weird! She’s…” Alexis hesitates, hunting unsuccessfully for the right word. “Nice,” she concludes lamely.

“So...boring, in other words.”

Alexis narrows her eyes and injects some frost into her tone. “Nice is not a synonym for boring. Nice means that she’s _nice_ , Marco.”

Among many other things, not all of which Alexis feels comfortable saying out loud. The thing is, that while Alexis shared some classes with Qi Ruma in High School, Alexis has only recently had the opportunity to get to know Ruma over the last few months. Ruma is shy, and nice, and...cute. 

The truth is, though, that Alexis _did_ think Ruma was kind of boring, at first. But that’s just because Ruma doesn’t know how to talk herself up, unlike Alexis, who sometimes suspects that projecting confidence is the only real skill she possesses. 

Ruma, though...she’s an artist. She’s holding down multiple jobs to pay her own way through school, too, and in spite of the insane workload, she still makes time for Alexis. Ruma listens when Alexis quite frankly whines about every trivial problem that comes her way, like Alexis’ favourite hair stylist being out of town and unable to provide the crucial return to school cut.

Ruma--in spite of being permanently exhausted from working her butt off to make her own way in the world--listens and makes sympathetic noises and tells Alexis stories that always make her feel better and somehow doesn’t hate Alexis, when even Alexis knows that she’s being a complete brat.

And Ruma is _cute_. Ruma's cuteness is an aspect of her character that, while not her _defining_ characteristic, is nonetheless impossible to overlook. At least, Alexis can’t overlook how cute Ruma is...

“Okay,” Marco mutters, hugging his stylish but decidedly summer weight jacket to himself as he tries not to shiver. “If Ruma is so not boring, why is she so not here?”

Alexis draws more vapour into her lungs and sighs it out. “She’s working.”

“So invite her to the after party.”

“She’ll still be working.”

“This late? I thought she worked in a café?”

“Ruma’s a security guard, too.”

“She’s _what_?” Marco shakes his head. “She’s...tiny, though.”

“So?” Alexis jabs him in the side with her elbow. “She’s tougher than she looks. She's cool, Marco!”

“Whatever. I’m _cold_ , and given she blew you off tonight, you may as well get back in there and…” He trails off, staring at Alexis, who looks away, fighting a blush. “...you never even asked her out, did you?”

“I invited her!”

“As your date?”

“Not in so many words…”

“And exactly how many words were you short of, in establishing the dating premise?”

Alexis groans. “All of the words that state or imply that I want to date her? She’s...skittish, okay? I didn’t want to put too much pressure on her!”

“Baby animals are skittish. Last I checked, Ruma isn’t a…huh…?”

This time, when he trails off, it’s because Marco is distracted by a disturbance in the quad. Alexis catches it a second after he does. It's a weird sound, or rather, a _series_ of sounds. Loud _thuds_ and _crunches_ echo around the quad, getting closer and closer.

“What the…?” Alexis breaks off with a gasp when she feels the ground tremble under her feet. “Is this an earthquake? Republic City doesn’t get earthquakes!”

A tall man with long black hair rounds the corner of the main hall and walks across the grounds towards them. He moves strangely. He stamps his foot with each step he takes, and he moves his arms in a series of sharp, forceful motions in time with each step. 

And as he moves, the ground moves with him. With a chorus of crunches, the row of flagstones nearest the hall lift themselves up and rotate so that one edge of each stone rests on the ground and the opposite side points up, slightly angled towards the hall. The earth beneath the stones parts and flows to the left and to the right, leaving a deep trench nearly a metre wide around the outer edge of the hall. Earth moves to shore up the flagstones, creating a short wall on the side nearest the hall, barely a metre from the outer wall.

Neither Alexis nor Marco have the presence of mind to do anything other than stare as the tall man makes his bizarre progress towards them. It’s only when he’s close enough to see the streaks of grey in his hair that Alexis’ paralysis breaks.

She jabs Marco in the side. “Run! Get campus security!”

Marco gapes at her. “I...don’t like their odds against this dude…”

“Get the police, then! Or the army! Get anyone! Just _go_!”

Alexis has to shove him, but when the flagstone nearest them lifts up and slams back down, Marco shudders, then he runs.

Which leaves Alexis with someone her brain has unhelpfully labelled as a 'supervillain’ and no plan to speak of. She takes a deep breath, then takes two steps forward and stops right in front of the tall man. He comes to a halt, too, completing his trench around the length of the hall the dance is taking place in.

He’s more than a foot taller than her, easily, and he’s got broad shoulders but a lean, muscular, athletic look in spite of the fact that he must be pretty old. Alexis thinks he must be at least forty. Worst of all, he has a long, thin moustache. _Definitely_ a supervillain’s choice of facial hair, her brain points out.

Alexis’ mouth says, “Hi...so, uh, do you have permission to do that? Because I think you’re going to make the groundskeeper mad…”

To her surprise, the tall man chuckles. Not an evil cackle, but a relaxed, amused laugh. “No, I’m not really the type to seek planning permission. I do feel a _little_ bad for the groundskeeper. My moat is going to leave a real mess. But needs must…”

“Oh. Um, so…” Alexis sweeps her long, red hair over shoulders, using it as an opportunity to sneak a look at Marco. He’s almost out of sight, thankfully. “Why are you...making a moat?”

“Ah.” The tall man rubs his chin. “This is awkward, but...I find myself in need of hostages. And you know, a gathering like this, stomping all over an ancient tradition and probably angering the spirits it’s meant to celebrate? I couldn’t resist!”

Alexis stares at him. She uses every scrap of mental fortitude she’s acquired from enduring her mother’s many lectures on how Alexis needs to find a sense of _direction_ in her life to bite back a scream. “Why...do you need hostages…?”

He tilts his head, studying her. “Why didn’t you run?”

“Oh. I...I’m distracting you while my friend gets help?”

“Hey, really?” He grins and gives her a thumbs up. “Good job! I don’t really care that your friend ran off, but you _did_ distract me!”

“You don’t...care?”

His grin fades. “I have enough hostages in there. And your friend isn’t going to be able to bring enough help in time to make a difference. In fact, I’m kinda counting on the whole circus showing up. There’s nothing like a crisis to expose all the empty clauses in the social contract.”

Alexis swallows, trying to work some spit around her dry mouth. “What...what are you going to do? With, uh, with the hostages, I mean?”

“I'm going to lure the Blue Spirit here and force her to exchange her freedom for their lives.” He shrugs. “That’s the plan, anyway. If she does, no one will get hurt.”

Alexis tries to make sense of any of that, but her brain is too busy pointing out that since this guy is talking about using an evil plan to capture an actual superhero, he is, in fact, undeniably, an actual supervillain. Alexis should really be running by now. Instead she says, “You’re going to take people hostage...with a moat?”

“Oh, no! I just need the moat to contain _this_.”

He raises his hands, clenches his fists, and swings them down in a sudden, violent motion. Alexis flinches back, even though he obviously isn’t trying to hit her. At first, she isn’t sure _what_ he’s doing, because nothing seems to change.

But then it does. She feels emanating from the nearby trench, the sensation almost pleasant against her bare legs. But as the heat rises, it intensifies, making Alexis gasp. Something begins to glow in the bottom of the trench, an evil orange glow that shimmers with heat haze.

Alexis walks unsteadily to the end of the trench and looks down, squinting at the impossible heat. A think, angry, orange liquid oozes up through the earth, slowly filling the trench, and as it fills up, the heat becomes unbearable. Alexis’ brain, continuing its trend of correctly identifying really very scary things, points out that she’s looking at lava.

Alexis staggers back, blinking moisture back into her eyes.

The tall man puts a steadying hand on her shoulder. “This would be a bad time to trip up,” he says, removing his hand the moment Alexis has her balance back.

Alexis forces words through the desert of her mouth. “Your...moat runs round the whole hall, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. This is how I'm taking hostages. Anyone tries to leave, or I don’t get what I want...” He clenches his fist and makes a sharp gesture. A jet of lava leaps into the air and the glowing, blazing viscous fluid seems to hang suspended in the darkness for a moment. The tall man opens his fist and the lava drops back down into the moat. “You should probably run after your friend.”

Alexis stares up at him. She looks at the trench, then up at the hall. She tries to imagine what it’s like inside. With all the music, and the dancing, it’s unlikely anyone has heard anything. Sooner or later, though, someone is going to try to go outside. When they do, they’ll find themselves trapped behind a moat full of lava, something impossible, incomprehensible, and yet really happening.

No one inside has a clue about what’s going to happen to them. And when clueless people get confronted with something weird and scary, they _panic_. And if panic spreads among the two hundred students crammed into that hall, people are going to get hurt.

Alexis looks up at the man. He looks back at her, his expression curious. “The Blue Spirit _will_ come,” Alexis says, slowly. She kicks off her heels. “Because...because you’re a villain. And she’s a hero.”

The tall man scratches his head. “You know, even if it was that simple, you’ve got that almost exactly backwards. She’s stolen something from you. From _all_ of us. My name is Ghazan, and I’m not anyone’s idea of a hero, but I _am_ one of the people who’s taking back the precious gift that the Blue Spirit denied us. And I’m going to make sure everyone else has a chance to get it, too.”

Alexis shakes her head. “You’re threatening to hurt people. The Blue Spirit...when she’s in the news, if you filter out all the crap about how terrible vigilantes are, the stories are about her saving people. She’ll save us.”

“Us?”

Alexis turns and sprints for the fire exit to the main hall where her friends and fellow students don’t yet know that they’re trapped. She leaps as close to the near edge of the trench as she dares, gasping when she passes over the shrivelling heat of the lava.

She almost doesn’t make it. But as she reaches the far side of the trench, the flagstone in front of her drops down flat, allowing her to land on it. She teeters on the unstable surface for a horrible second, but the stone flips, pushing her forward onto solid ground.

Alexis looks back, and sees the tall man wink at her. He makes a few sharp gestures, and the flagstone returns to its original position. He chuckles and says, “That was pretty stupid, but I respect your decision.”

Alexis shakes her head. “I...I’m the one who pushed the theme of this dance. It’s my fault you came here. I can’t just run away…”

He purses his lips. “I see. I mean, I was always going to happen somewhere, kid. This really isn’t on you. But I appreciate your sense of responsibility. That’s all too rare. Well...I really hope the Blue Spirit doesn’t let us down tonight. I’d hate to see you get hurt.”

Alexis clenches her fists. “You could stop this. Right now. Then _no one_ would get hurt.”

“I could.” He sighs. Then he raises his hand, and a small stream of lava rises up into the air. He gestures and the lava solidifies into a semi-molten disc. Another gestures sends the disc spinning through the air. It slices through one of Alexis’ banners, which splits in two and catches fire. “But I won’t. There’s too much at stake, and it’s about time the Blue Spirit was taken off the board.”

Alexis closes her eyes and takes a deep breath of the foul, too warm air. Then she turns her back on the supervillain who just saved her life and who is burning down all of her party decorations. Alexis goes back into the hall through the fire escape. For the first time tonight, Alexis is profoundly grateful that Ruma couldn’t make it.

Alexis pauses when she gets inside the hall, taking in the sight of all the happy people dancing. “I really hope you’re out there, Blue Spirit! And that you get here fast!”

Alexis begins to push her way through the crowd, towards the DJ’s booth, and begins working out what she's going to say when she takes his microphone.

* * *

Lieutenant Saikhan is in full flow and mostly worried about making sure the cameras are getting his good side when the call comes in. He notices his aide, Marcus, making urgent signals out of the corner of his eye, but if Saikhan is new to PR and the more political aspects of the job, he’s still smart enough not to give the reporters more than he wants them to know.

So he takes his time to finish answering the question about the vigilantes and their involvement in the bridge incident. “Yes, I can confirm that the vigilante known as the Blue Spirit interfered once again in an RCPD operation, putting civilian lives at risk. And while my people were busy securing the crime scene and arresting several Red Lotus operatives, she ran off into the shadows. But rest assured, the Blue Spirit’s moment will come. And that’s all the time I have for now!”

Saikhan turns away from the impromptu press conference, ignoring the babble of reporters yelling questions at him. He walks confidently, unhurriedly, back towards the crime scene and waits until he’s safely out of earshot of the reporters before he nods to his aide. “What is it?”

Marcus keeps his voice low. “An arsonist at RCU. Apparently he’s torching the grounds and threatening the students there with some kind of incendiary device.”

Saikhan raises his eyebrows. “Well, free up what uniforms you can. They can take our bird and our shooters, too.”

Marcus winces. “Uh...councillor Tarrlok wants you on this.”

“You spoke to him?”

“Just got off the phone. He says he’s worried there might be a Red Lotus connection. Another fire in a public place...he wants the Task Force on it.”

Saikhan grinds the heels of his hands against his eyes. “The press are all over us! What’ll they think if we pull out now?”

“Well...I think the press will be all over the RCU arsonist soon? Especially if we don’t contain it? Uh, sir.”

This time, Saikhan grinds his teeth. He glares at Marcus. “Watch your tone, sergeant.”

“Yes, sir.”

Saikhan sighs. “Who’s not busy…?”

“Shen and Mako are doing paperwork…”

“Good. They’re taking point on this one. Call them and tell them they have command until I get there. Then get my car.”

Saikhan shakes his head. His hopes of getting to bed before dawn just vanished. He sighs, and strides across the bridge, working out who he can afford to leave to work the scene and who will come with him to chase Red Lotus phantoms at Republic City University.

* * *

Opal is enduring a bath full of every ice cube she could scavenge and a whole lot of cold water when her phone buzzes. 

Her body feels less like a sentient bruise when she hauls herself out of the tub, which almost makes up for how cold she is. She quickly slips into her fluffiest robe and answers her phone just before it goes to voicemail. “Hello?”

“Opal _Beifong_ ,” Asami’s voice says, in the precise tone of someone who knows that Opal is a secret superhero who has just risked life and limb doing something heroic but also maybe kinda _slightly_ dumb. “We need to talk.”

“Oh...hi, Asami. Haha. It’s funny, but you sound almost...mad for some reason. What reason could that be…?”

“I think you know, Opal.”

“Right, right…” Opal swallows. “Uh...how do _you_ know…?”

“A mutual acquaintance filled me in.”

“Oh! Wow, what a super snitch!”

“She was worried. So am I.”

Opal clenches her teeth, and not just because they’ve been chattering. “Look, I know what I’m doing, Asami!”

“...other than deciding to date Bolin, since when?”

“ _Hey_! That’s...just because it’s accurate, it doesn’t make it less rude!”

“Opal, I’m calling partly because of your history of making questionable decisions. You see, our mutual acquaintance might need help. And I feel like getting off the sidelines. I hoped you might join me?”

“Huh? You don't mean like…teaming up to...” Opal blinks surprised at the sudden change in Asami’s tone. She slowly grins. “Oh, you have no idea how ready I am! So what’s the plan?”

“Well...I can pick you up in ten minutes?”

Opal’s tired and she’s already put her body through a lot tonight, but...she still owes Korra, and this is _Asami_ asking for help, so there’s really only one answer she can give. “You’re going to _love_ my super harness! Spoiler warning: it’s green! See you in ten!”

* * *

Ghazan passes the time stretching to keep his muscles loose. He’s been training to be an earthbender for decades, but the downside to that is, he’s taking on the most physically demanding job of his life much later in it than is ideal. 

And decades of training or no, the _reality_ of earthbending--and lavabending--over the few weeks he’s had since he finally gained his powers has taxed Ghazan heavily.

Of course, in an _ideal_ world, Ghazan wouldn't be taking hostages and the Blue Spirit would simply surrender as she showed up. He wouldn’t have to do any more bending tonight. But if this was an ideal world, it wouldn’t have needed the Red Lotus in the first place. So Ghazan keeps his body ready for a fight.

He gets one sooner than he’d anticipated when a half-dozen uniforms appear at the far end of the quad. What with all the heat haze and the smoke from the fires he started, Ghazan isn’t sure if it's campus security or the RCPD.

It doesn’t matter either way. They’ll serve to get Ghazan’s message out there.

First, a demonstration. Ghazan takes a deep breath and moves through the forms. Behind him, the lava responds to his summons, rising in a wall ten feet high that runs the length of the building behind him. 

The uniforms freeze in place, shock and disbelief obvious in the rigid lines of their bodies.

Ghazan strides out to meet them, walking across the perfect square of lawn the groundskeepers maintain in the middle of the quad. He smiles. The groundskeepers do a good job here; the grass is watered well enough to keep it a vibrant green.

When the uniforms start shouting and reaching for weapons, Ghazan reaches down to the earth beneath his feet and launches clumps of soil into the air between him and the uniforms. Then he shifts stance and touches the anger he keeps buried deep down within him and the moisture-rich soil transforms into lava.

All that liquid getting superheated causes obscuring clouds of steam to appear between Ghazan and the people who have come to apprehend him. The moment it does, Ghazan dives and rolls to the side, getting out of any possible line of fire. He keeps low as he pulls more chunks of earth from the lawn. He uses his earthbending to separate the earth and squeeze it down into a dozen dense spheres. He tilts his head, listening to the confused cries of the uniformed men.

Once he thinks he has a rough idea of where they’re standing, he launches sphere after sphere through the dissipating cloud of steam. A chorus of thuds and cries of pain follow as his attacks land, hard enough to hurt rather than seriously injure.

Ghazan summons another clump of earth and compacts it into a disc of searing lava. He strides calmly through the last shreds of steam and considers the six men lying on the quad, groaning and clutching at limbs or bellies. It turns out to be a mixture of campus security and a couple of RCPD officers.

Ghazan sweeps the lava disc in a low arc over them, getting their attention. When they’re looking at him, he smiles. “Leave your weapons here. Then go tell your superiors that I have over 150 young people isolated in the hall back there, and that lava under my control is currently eating away at the building’s foundations. Now, I don’t want to see any of those kids get hurt and I have simple demands.”

“First, the RCPD should stay clear of they don't want to see this situation...escalate.” Ghazan his smile die. He isn’t as good at intimidation as Zaheer, but he does his best to make his face a stony mask and figures that all the flames and lava will make the rest of his point for him. “Second, I’ll release the hostages the moment the Blue Spirit surrenders herself to me. Anything you can do to encourage her in that direction would be welcome. Now go.”

They pick themselves up and back away, terror warring with pride on their faces.

Ghazan sighs quietly. “Oh, one other thing! Next person to enter this quad who _isn’t_ the Blue Spirit? I’ll kill them. Consider that your only warning.”

At that, they break, turning and running as fast as their bruised bodies will allow them.

Ghazan shakes his head, disgusted. “That kid back there deserves a better quality of rescuer.”

He turns and strides back across the gouged, scarred grass, humming softly to himself.

* * *

Asami Sato pulls up across the street from Bolin's house. She keeps the engine idling while she waits, but it’s only a matter of seconds before Opal slips out of the front door and jogs to Asami’s car.

Opal has a hoodie on over her promised super harness, but she’s wearing green yoga pants and matching trainers. Asami throws the passenger door open for her and Opal dives in. She barely gets the door closed, let alone her seatbelt in place, by the time Asami has the car moving again.

Asami doesn’t know exactly what the Blue Spirit is facing at RCU tonight, but there’s something so intoxicating in the decision to take action that Asami feels the urge to _move_ right now. She brings the car up to just over the speed limit and finds herself smiling as her mind, muscles and the car that the finest engineering minds at Future Industries developed all come into perfect harmony.

For so long, Asami has been wrestling with intangible problems and worrying about so many unknown things, so many seemingly _unknowable_ things. It feels good to take action for a change.

It isn’t until a red light finally catches her that Asami’s focus expands outward enough to realise that Opal is staring at her intently.

Feeling suddenly awkward, Asami offers her a sheepish smile. “Hey, Opal.”

“Hey yourself.” Opal stares at her for a moment, then she smiles a huge, sunny smile. “It’s good to see you, jerk.”

Asami winces. “I...that was the other reason I wanted to call. I...I’m sorry I’ve been so--”

“Asami about everything? Y'know, shutting out everyone who cares about you and wearing yourself down to a stub on some project because…” Opal frowns. “Actually I’ve never been sure why. I get that you need time to yourself sometimes. And after...what happened with...but I thought we were all supposed to be pulling together to deal with the Red Lotus? I thought...I thought you knew I’m _here_ for you, Asami. Powers or no powers, no matter what.”

“I know.” The light changes. Asami takes a deep breath before she puts the car in gear and starts driving, more slowly than before. “I know, Opal. And that’s the thing, I can’t…”

After a long moment in which Asami fails to find the right words, Opal’s hand touches Asami’s knee. Opal says, “You can’t stop bad things from happening to me or to anyone you love by avoiding us, Asami. You’re not responsible for...and I’ve got my own reasons for wanting to take on the Red Lotus. One of them happens to be because they messed with my best friend, and I am _not_ letting that pass. But that isn’t the only reason. So…”

Opal squeezes Asami’s knee, then lets go. “Accept that we’re in this together, and avoiding me is only going to make us both worse off. And also accept that for freezing me out, you owe me brunch. Brunch with no judgement attached if I have two glasses of champagne, too!”

Asami can’t quite laugh, but she smiles, and she shoots a grateful look at Opal. “Opal, I promise...I will always judge you for drinking champagne in the morning.”

“Ugh, fine! I’ll stick to one glass! You drive a hard bargain, Sato.”

“I still haven’t even agreed to the brunch thing.”

“You don’t need to agree. You just need to accept that it’s happening!”

This time, Asami does laugh, and it leaves her feeling lighter. “Only if you accept that I’m not going to be satisfied with this Jade Shade business until I know you’re as safe as can be.”

“Uh, I’m wearing a Kevlar vest and I have superpowers? What more do I need?”

Asami flicks another glance at Opal and smirks. “If I’m going to be stuck as the CEO of Future Industries for a while, I may as well get some benefit out of it. Unless you think I won’t be able to help you find some useful additions to that outfit?”

Opal’s jaw drops. “You’re not only supporting my career as a superhero, you’re going to...upgrade my super harness with super tech?”

“Well, in the first case I don’t have much choice, so in the second case...you’ve got no choice but to accept.”

“Are you kidding? I super accept!”

“Good.”

“Um...what about...her?”

“The Blue Spirit?” Asami nods. “Yeah, of course. We...had a long talk tonight. I think I can arrange something for her, too. I...think she’ll accept my help. I want her to feel like she can…I want her to know that I’m there for her.”

Opal hesitates. “Well, good. That’s...really good. And she will take your help, if I have anything to say about it!”

They lapse into silence for a while, each thinking their own thoughts.

At the next red light, Asami turns to face Opal and says, “Hey. I’m sorry I didn’t call sooner.”

“Me, too.” Opal grins at her, her eyes bright and happy. “But I’m glad you finally did.”

After another, much less awkward pause, Opal clears her throat and says, in a suspiciously breezy tone, “Sooooo, now you’ve accepted that you should worry less and just spend time with people you care about again…”

Asami knows where this is headed, and she isn't sure she’s ready for this conversation, but it isn’t altogether unwelcome. Still, she permits herself a sigh even as a smile tugs at her lips. “Yes, Opal?”

“Are you ever going to call Korra? Because I’m guessing you haven’t called Korra. And I’m guessing she’s too nice to call you, and so, what I’m trying to say is--”

“Yes, Opal.”

Opal freezes. “Yes what?”

“Yes I’m going to call Korra. Well, call on her. Tomorrow, hopefully.”

“You...are?” Opal sucks in a breath and sighs it out happily. “Good! Now don’t ask me how I know this, but I just _know_ she’s been missing you and that you are making a very wise decision!”

Asami chews her lip. “You think so?”

“Uh, yeah. I really seriously do.”

Asami tries to steal a look at Opal’s face, but Opal is staring out the side window. Asami frowns, weighing Opal's words. “It might not lead to anything, but I have to try to...I mean, I want Korra to know I’m there for her, too.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Asami notes the way Opal's head turns sharply so that she can study Asami’s face. Asami thinks she might be blushing, but she keeps her expression as neutral as she can.

A second later, Asami turns a corner and she doesn’t have to worry about guarding her expression anymore. Her jaw drops when she sees the main campus of Republic City University ahead of her, surrounded by the flashing lights of the emergency services and overtopped by several columns of smoke.

Beside her, Opal’s phone starts buzzing.

* * *

When Shen gets the call to drop everything and head to RCU, Mako still hasn’t returned to the precinct. She calls him on her way to her car.

“Mako? We’ve got a new assignment. There's an arsonist threatening students at RCU’s main building. Unconfirmed but potential Red Lotus involvement. We’re supposed to get there and hold the fort until Saikhan shows up.”

Mako lets out a whistle on the other end of the line. “I’ll head right over and scope it out. I’m nearer than you.”

Shen clamps her jaw and fights down the urge to ask Mako where he’s been. That’s too sensitive a subject to bring up now, when they might be heading into a crisis. It frustrates Shen that she can’t just grab Mako and get right into the issue of where he stands on the Blue Spirit and the Jade Shade. It frustrates her all the more because _Shen_ doesn’t know how she feels about the vigilantes, and that makes her all the more determined to talk things out.

But it’ll have to wait.

“Okay, partner. See you soon.”

The drive to RCU doesn’t do much to calm her, but Shen does the best she can to push all other considerations aside when she pulls up in front of a hastily assembled cordon.

Shen hops out of her car and ducks under police tape, nodding to one of the uniforms. She finds Mako outside the campus security office, consulting with a small group of security guards, RCPD officers and a fire marshal.

When she pushes through to the front of the group, she’s in time to catch Mako saying, “...until we’ve got more of a presence here, we’re taking no unnecessary risks. We're going to lock down the area as best we can and work on an evacuation plan.”

Shen frowns. She looks round the faces of the people around Mako. They all look various degrees of frightened, and something else. Something worse: they look...lost. Shen feels the skin on the back of her neck tighten.

“Any questions?” Mako sweeps his gaze around them all, pausing to give Shen a tiny nod. When no one speaks, Mako says, “Okay, get to it.”

She waits for the knot of people to loosen and unravel. She kind of wishes the knot in her stomach would do the same. “What’s happening, Mako?”

He sighs and rubs his face. “I don’t...know. But I think it’s the Red Lotus alright. Only...this isn't a bomb scare, Shen. There's a man camped outside the main hall, where the party is...was, and he’s threatening to destroy the building if the Blue Spirit doesn't surrender to him.”

Shen clenches her fists. The Blue Spirit. Of course. She tries to focus on the problem in front of her. “I thought you said it wasn’t a bomb threat?”

Mako shakes his head, his expression dazed. “He...he surrounded the building with lava. Shen...he can control _lava_.”

Shen stares at him. Mako stares back, clearly shaken and clearly not lying. “Oh, crap...oh, holy crap…we’re not equipped to deal with this.”

Mako tries to smile. “Yeah, that’s sort of what I thought.”

Shen closes her eyes. She thinks back to what Captain Beifong told her. They might be out of their depth here, they might not know how to deal with...with magic lava powers, but that doesn’t mean they’re helpless. That doesn’t mean that they can’t do something.

Shen opens her eyes and nods at Mako. “Okay. Okay. I think you’ve made a good start. We’re going to need more firefighters. And we should put in a call to FEMA. And...if this guy has hostages, and he has demands, maybe we can negotiate. Right?”

Mako runs a hand through his hair. He looks up and towards the cluster of buildings a couple of hundred metres away on Shen’s right. Thin plumes of smoke rise up from the quad those buildings surround.

Mako takes a quick breath. “Right. You’re right. I should’ve thought of FEMA.”

Shen finds a smile for him. “Yeah, well. It's not for nothing that I’m the senior detective, right?”

“Right.” He gives her a smile back.

“Okay, anything else you can think of just now? Before I call Saikhan?”

Mako’s attention turns back to the stone buildings. He freezes. “Oh.”

Shen quickly looks round, trying to see what he's looking at. For a moment she sees nothing, and then she catches it: movement out of the corner of her eye, on the roof of one of the buildings overlooking the quad.

“Is that our guy?”

“No,” Mako says quietly. “That's...our girl.”

Shen blinks. “The Blue Spirit…?”

“Shen...I’ve thought of something else we should do.”

Shen looks up at him, eyebrows raised.

Mako stares down at her, his face composed, his eyes sharp, focused. “We’re in charge, right?”

“Uh, nominally and for maybe another ten minutes. But, sure…?”

“So…” Mako digs into his pocket and pulls out his phone. He scrolls through his contacts, taps a name and raises his phone to his ear. “It’s our call how to handle this. And we aren’t equipped to deal with something like this. But she is.”

Shen gapes at him. “What? Mako, you can’t seriously--”

“I can. I say we give the Blue Spirit a shot. But...you’re senior, Shen. It’s your call. I...I’ve got your back, either way.”

As Shen digests that, Mako’s expression shifts. “Hey,” he says into his phone. “I need a huge favour. I need to talk to...her. Right now. Can you give me her number? Got it. Thank you” Mako hangs up and makes eye contact with Shen. “Well?”

Shen licks her lips. She’s stunned that Mako so readily gave up that he knows someone who knows the Blue Spirit.

Until she remembers that there are hundreds of students on campus tonight, and that their lives are at stake.

Shen tries to work out what the right thing to do is, in a world that no longer makes sense. And all at once, she can hear Captain Beifong's advice again. She remembers how Saikhan nearly got a bunch of citizens killed because he wanted to take down a Red Lotus target so badly.

Shen remembers who saved those people from Saikhan’s incompetence.

She sets her jaw and nods at Mako. “Tell the Blue Spirit if she thinks she’s going in there alone against that guy, she’s crazy.” Shen shakes her head, wondering if maybe _she’s_ the crazy one. “You tell the Blue Spirit she’s not alone. We’ve got her back on this one."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading folks!
> 
> I, uh, have a busy couple of weeks ahead of me, too. I'll try to get another chapter out in three weeks time, but it might be four. It will be no later than four, though.
> 
> But you don't need to wait if you want to comment right now! Which isn't the smoothest segue, but it's super late and I really need to get some sleep. On a not entirely unrelated note, let me know if there's anything particularly wonky in this chapter...


	20. Long Night Pt. 1: Up In The Air

Korra feels like she’s soaring even before she leaps out of Asami’s window.

Asami believes her. Asami believes _in_ her. It’s a long way from what Korra wants, what she can no longer deny she so very definitely wants from Asami--no, _with_ Asami--but it’s more than Korra would have thought possible even an hour ago.

There are still so many secrets Korra has to keep, so many lies she has to maintain, and she _hates_ how lies have become such a big a part of her life. But Korra feels like she and Asami have built some kind of bridge tonight. Asami accepts that Korra can’t tell her the whole truth, and Korra can at least be honest about her deceptions. That isn’t enough to satisfy Korra, not really. But it’s enough that, for now at least, she feels more like herself than she has since the auction.

Korra feels free. She feels like she’s flying.

Of course, she isn’t. She’s falling. But the difference between those two states isn’t what it used to be for Korra. It used to be necessary for Korra to reach for Raava in moments like this, but Korra has made good use of her time in the last six weeks.

So rather than reach for Raava, Korra grins as she throws out her arms and gathers up the air itself. With a roar, a gust of wind rushes to meet her, slamming into her body like an excited dog greeting its owner. It lifts her up and pushes her forward for a couple of seconds, before she’s falling again. But those seconds and the height she’s gained bring Korra within range of the rooftop of the building across the street from Asami’s, so all Korra has to do is slap her hand against the edge of the roof, kick up with her legs, and let momentum bring her to a landing on the rooftop.

A landing, but not a stop. Korra transfers her momentum into forward movement, rolling, springing up, and reaching a sprint in a couple of seconds. She leaps from the edge of this roof to another one storey lower down. Korra tucks herself into another roll and comes up running, still grinning, still flying.

RCU’s campus is almost twenty minutes away on foot, assuming the feet in question were making use of the sidewalk and bound by all the pedestrian rules of, well, pedestrians. Since even the most ardent parkour enthusiast would be forced to concede that the rooftops are too widely spaced to make full use of them as the most direct route, it might take such an enthusiast twelve minutes to cover the distance.

Korra’s the Blue Spirit. Airbending might not allow her the power of flight, but it gives her an edge over every other crazy person who has ever jumped from one high place to another. And even though it’s been a long, long night, and Korra should be tired, _is_ tired, and she really shouldn’t feel this happy running towards a crisis, Korra’s going to make it to RCU in less than seven minutes, because tonight...she’s flying.

The air has never felt more alive to Korra, more _present_. She can feel the air around her, and through that connection, she can feel _everything_. She can smell the synthetic lavender of the fabric softener someone used in their laundry before they hung it out to dry on the roof Korra’s running across. She can feel the pressure of the night shifting, the clouds above gathering, the rain that wants to fall readying itself. She can sense the crosswinds ripping through the spaces between the buildings she’s jumping between, and how best to use or avoid them. She knows where and when she’ll need more than her muscles alone can give her to cross a gap, and as Korra hits her stride, she can sense how much air she needs to move to make crossing those gaps _easy_.

Maybe Korra’s lungs should be straining with the effort of keeping her body oxygenated, but getting enough air into her system is not a problem, not right now. Maybe she should stumble, because the surfaces she runs across are in various states of repair, and littered with pipes and conduits, and here and there loose slates, but even if Korra doesn’t know where all of the hazards are, her feet do. Maybe the scarf should affect her breathing, or at least be damp with condensation, but it doesn’t and it isn’t. And there’s simply no way that Korra should know that the fire in RCU is not a normal fire, that there’s something odd about the scent of it, but tonight, she does.

Korra knows that she has never been more in sync with her powers than this. She wonders if she’ll ever have another moment like this, wonders if this is what it was like for Aang and Kyoshi all the time. But she doesn’t give it too much thought, because she’s too busy _flying_ , and flying is about feeling, not thinking.

There will be time for thinking, and worrying, and doubts, and fear, all too soon. But for now, Korra pushes herself to go faster, laughing as Republic City flows by beneath her, pockets of light and shadow blurring together, air and stone speeding her on.

Korra only considers slowing when she’s a block away, and she lets herself come to a reluctant stop only when she reaches the edge of the roof of a low building near RCU’s main gate. She stands there, panting and sweating--though far less than she should be--her grin fading at last as she settles back into herself, her senses reeled back in to something just short of supernatural, and takes in the extent of the problem she’s facing.

Republic City University sits near the middle of the city, though ‘sprawls’ might be a better word; it occupies a few blocks worth of the city in a tangle of old dressed stone, more recent glass and brick buildings, and open areas covered in paving stones and neatly cropped grass, dotted here and there by the occasional tree. The whole area is closed off by an ornate iron fence, but getting in over that isn’t a problem. The police cars and the fire truck pulled up outside the gate might be more of a problem, but they still aren’t the issue.

The columns of smoke rising up from nearly a block away, in the middle of a group of grey stone buildings: that’s where the problem is.

Korra takes a few deep breaths. “Okay, so...I’m smelling something other than burning cloth or wood. Which means I’m definitely getting better at this whole listening to what the world wants to tell me thing! But, uh, some help translating please? What am I smelling?”

Aang appears at her left side. “Well, if you want my expert opinion? I...don’t know.”

Korra stares at him. “That’s your _expert_ opinion?”

“Well, I am just the memory of a dead monk, Korra,” Aang says mildly. “Remembering things _is_ my area of expertise. But I don’t remember ever smelling anything quite like that before, so...”

“Great! Thanks _so_ much for the help!”

Aang waves his hand. “Oh, think nothing of it!”

Korra bites her lip. She tries to focus on the smoke in the distance, but there’s an uneasiness growing in her gut that she doesn’t intend to ignore. Korra will need to act soon, but soon isn’t right now, and she’d like to know as much as she can about what she’s getting into before she goes in.

She only realises that she’s rubbing her side, where the bullet went in, when Aang says, “Does it still trouble you?”

“The injury? No.” Korra sighs. “Almost dying? Yeah, it kinda does a bit.” Korra tugs her burner phone out of her pocket and powers it up. “I’m calling Tenzin.”

“I see, Korra,” a new voice declares, “that you still refuse to learn where to place your focus.”

“Kyoshi?” Korra whips round to face the newly arrived ghost. “Uh...hi. Hey! Uh, I am focused, though?”

“Oh?” Kyoshi sniffs. “And where is your focus?”

Korra swallows. As bad as Kyoshi was at times before the auction, now that Korra’s training has become more formal, Kyoshi has appointed herself the headmistress of the school of Korra’s Crash Course In Bending. “On...the task at hand…?”

“And what is that task?”

Korra gestures at the expansive grounds of Republic City University. “...over there?”

It turns out that Kyoshi is the scariest headmistress ever.

Kyoshi glares at Korra. “Your focus must be on keeping yourself in balance. Your spirit must be unburdened, your mind must have no expectations, your breath must flow, your body must be ready for any possibility. Only then can you focus on your objective in order to achieve it. _When_ you have a clear idea of what that objective _is_.”

Korra huffs out an irritated breath. “I’m calling Tenzin to figure that out! And you’re just mad because I wouldn’t agree to trying to set up a sparring match with Asami! And I didn’t because I have a secret identity to maintain, remember?”

“Secrets can be burdens on the spirit, Korra,” Aang says softly. “Try to remember that.”

“So are Red Lotus members tracking me down because they know who I am and--”

Kyoshi snorts. “Tenzin has known of your identity for some time. The Red Lotus have yet to find their way to your door.”

Korra feels her certainty slipping away. “I…”

“And it would appear that Opal has known for at least six weeks,” Kyoshi observes calmly.

Korra flushes. “Opal and Tenzin figured it out! Which means I need to be _more_ careful! I can’t just...tell everyone I’m the Blue Spirit.”

“Telling everyone would create certain difficulties,” Kyoshi acknowledges. “Not telling Asami will eventually cause others.”

Korra clenches her fists. “I’ve told her as much as I safely can for now. It’s not like I have time to...look, I know what I’m doing.”

Kyoshi doesn’t say anything. She just raises an eyebrow.

Aang clears his non-existent throat. “Perhaps we should get back to the mysterious smoke, and figuring out--”

Kyoshi snorts. “The smell you have failed to identify, Aang, is caused by the presence of sulphur dioxide. It means that there is lava over there.”

Korra blinks. “ _What_? _Lava_? In the middle of Republic City? How?”

“There is a simple explanation.” Kyoshi spreads her hands. “Lavabending.”

“ _Lavabending_?”

Aang clears his throat again. “But that power’s derived from earthbending, so if that were the case…”

Korra clenches her fists. “The Red Lotus have unlocked another Lion-Turtle. I’m too _slow_ , I need to up my training, I need to--”

“Focus,” Kyoshi snaps. “Focus on the now.”

Korra sighs, shoulders slumping. “Right. You’re right. I...really was kinda focused for a while there, though?”

Something that could be a trick of the light or perhaps could be the merest sliver of a smile touches Kyoshi’s lips. “You were, child. For reasons that should hopefully be obvious.”

For reasons that hopefully aren’t making Korra blush. Scarves aren’t much protection from the ghosts who live in her soul.

“Well, I can’t do much about my...spirit and any burdens I may or may not but definitely don’t have,” Korra mutters. She rolls her shoulders and straightens her spine. “But if there’s a Red Lotus lavabender in there, I _can_ go in prepared. Tell me what the weaknesses of lavabending are.”

Kyoshi raises her eyebrows. “What weaknesses do you think lava has?”

“I...don’t know. Uh, I guess maybe--”

“Wrong,” Kyoshi says flatly. “Lava has no weaknesses. Because it is _lava_. Molten earth that flows, burns, corrupts the air, scorches the earth. Lavabending is one of the most dangerous expressions of the bending arts, Korra. A single mistake tonight could prove fatal.”

“Yeeeeah, so, I think you just put a whole lot of burdens on my spirit?” Korra sighs. She studies the terrain between here and the smoke, worrying her lip. She dials Tenzin’s number. “I’m calling Tenzin. Then we’re going in for a closer look.”

Neither of the ghosts make an objection.

Tenzin picks up after two rings. “Where are you?”

“Looking at the smoke at RCU.” They’re both using burners, but they avoid names anyway. “Can you tell me anything?”

Tenzin sighs. “According to what I’ve heard on the police scanner...a man has taken hostages with some kind of incendiary device. A great many hostages, in the hall where tonight’s dance was taking place.”

“Oh. Okay, then.” Korra takes a deep breath and focuses on _now_. “His, uh, device is lava, by the way. He’s Red Lotus.”

“I...see. I’m getting my car keys.”

Korra looks at Aang. “Nah, better not. The police are going to be all over this. I don’t think you’ll be able to sneak me away if something goes wrong tonight. Just...keep me posted if you hear anything. Especially about the Task Force moving in.”

“...very well,” his voice is grudging. “In that case, let me say this: I will not tolerate lateness at work tomorrow. Do you understand me?”

Korra throws back her head and laughs. “Yeah, I do. Thanks, s--uh, sir. I’ll talk to you later.”

She hangs up, pockets her phone, and draws in a breath through the feeling that laughter put in her. She traps the air in her lungs for a second before she breathes it out. “Okay. Why does a Red Lotus lavabender want to take a bunch of students hostage?”

Kyoshi doesn’t respond. She doesn’t even move, not so much as a millimetre. It is, Korra thinks, how Kyoshi shrugs. 

Aang spreads his hands and offers Korra an apologetic smile. “There’s really only one way to find out.”

Korra nods. “Yeah. Let’s go ask him.”

She turns and walks to the edge of the roof to her right, where, without slowing, Korra steps off the roof, dropping to the street below. She summons a cushion of air to slow her descent. She sets off at a brisk walk from the corner of the building, crossing the street a couple of hundred yards from the gate and the gathered emergency vehicles. Korra jumps and the wind helps carry her over the fence and onto the university grounds.

Korra doesn’t really like living in secret and in silence, but she’s getting pretty good at it. For all the streetlights and the occasional light on in one of the buildings, there are plenty of shadows around. Korra is able to get to the central quad unseen by the cops and security personnel panicking their way around the grounds.

Korra scales a drainpipe on the side of one of the buildings overlooking the quad. She finds Aang waiting for her, a strange smile on his face. “What?”

Aang shakes his head. “This building houses the Geology department.”

Korra glares at him. “Seriously? Right now, Aang? I mean...heh, that is actually kinda--”

Aang’s face becomes suddenly stern. “That’s enough, Korra. You need to focus!”

“What…?” Korra glances over her shoulder, where Kyoshi watches them both. “Oh.”

Kyoshi snorts. “GIven that we are both equally aware of everything that _Korra_ is aware of, do you really think you can deceive me, Aang?”

Aang shrugs and relaxes into a grin. “Nah, but it was worth a shot. And you have to admit, it is funny!”

While Kyoshi is busy rolling her eyes, Korra quickly lifts her fist and receives a ghostly bump and a broad grin from Aang. Before Kyoshi can decide whether her dignity will allow her to chastise them further, Korra drops prone and crawls to the edge of the roof. She pauses, as a thought strikes her. “Hey...can you guys lie to _me_?”

Aang and Kyoshi exchange a Look significant enough to warrant a capital letter.

“You can?!” Korra hisses, her heart thudding. “So all those other ghosts could just be lying to me about the Lion-Turtles and everything else. _You_ guys could be--”

Aang holds up a hand. “Korra. Of course we can lie to you.  
We’re memories of real people, with real personalities, and that means--”

“Kyoshi is Kyoshi, and Kyoshi stands alone,” Kyoshi interjects, giving Aang a sour look. “These abstract concepts are irrelevant and insulting, Aang. Nevertheless, you are correct in one sense. We _are_ capable of lying to you, Korra, but what purpose would it serve? For most of us, the world we knew when we were clothed in bone and flesh is itself dust and ashes. Few motives for lying survive the severing of spirit and flesh. And while it is possible that one or even a few of our number might lie to you about a given subject, it is inconceivable that all of us would.”

“If we knew more about the Red Lotus and their plans, we’d tell you, Korra,” Aang says softly. “If there are things that we haven’t...it’s because some things have to be built up to, and we’re still creating the foundation of your training and understanding. Trust us. Please.”

Korra sighs. “I do, Aang. Of course I trust you guys. But, uh, something’s up in my...soul. And we all know it. Maybe some of those old ghosts know more than they’re telling me. More than they ever told either of you.”

“Perhaps,” Kyoshi concedes. “But how does that knowledge help you in this moment?”

“It...doesn’t. Just adds burdens to my spirit, I guess.”

“Indeed.”

“Right. People are in danger. They need my help.” Korra tries one of the breathing exercises that Aang taught her, slowing her heart, clearing her mnd. “I am going to help them.”

Pushing every other concern aside, Korra slowly pokes her head over the edge of the roof. She gets a glimpse through smoke rising from burning banners of a torn up lawn, a trench emitting a dull orange glow, and a weird sculpture thing revolving below and to her right.

Korra doesn't get more than that before her phone buzzes in her pocket. She begins to ease herself back from the roof, frowning, when the stone beneath her shifts, flowing away from her and leaving her trying to balance on empty air.

With a yelp, Korra tumbles over the edge of the roof. It doesn't feel like flying this time, as she falls. She twists in the air, getting her feet under her, and throws out her hands, creating an air cushion beneath her. She lands on her feet, not too heavily, but it takes her a second to find her balance.

Before the second is up, a rock hits her in the chest, blasting the air from her lungs and hurling Korra onto her back. She hits the ground hard, gasping for air, her arms splayed. With a convulsive movement, wheezing with effort, Korra rolls onto her elbow and starts to lever herself upright. It seems to take forever to get onto her hands and knees. Every breath she takes seems to require as much of her attention as each of her suddenly clumsy limbs does. Korra's just figuring out how to breathe while pushing up off her knees when something latches onto her feet.

Korra looks down to see the earth of the lawn rise up and enclose itself around her feet. More earth begins to rise, covering her hands.

From behind her, a man with a deep voice says, “It'll hurt a lot less if you surrender now. If you do, I'll let all the kids go, too.”

A burst of anger cuts through the haze in Korra's mind. There's already plenty of adrenaline in her system, all she needs is...focus. Around her hands and feet, the earth begins to solidify into stone.

Korra narrows her eyes.

The earth of the lawn is almost mud under her fingers, it's so water rich. A couple of months ago, Korra would have mostly found this situation kinda gross.

Well, the part where a bad guy with superpowers had her at a serious disadvantage would have been--and very much still is--terrifying. But the covered in mud thing would have mildly grossed her out as soon as she had the mental bandwidth to process it.

But that was a couple of months ago. The last six weeks have been the most demanding, exhausting, draining experience of Korra's life, pushing her to her mental and physical limits. Which is to say that, under the intense tutelage of Kyoshi and Aang the last six weeks, Korra's learned a _lot_.

The earth around her hands is hardening, but the earth underneath is soft enough to give her some room to move her fingers. It isn't much, but she doesn't need to move her hands much right now. Just enough to curl her fingers into a loose fist, because Korra doesn't want the water to flow, she needs it to _freeze_.

A couple of months ago, Korra wouldn't have tried something like this, worried that it would be impossible. It would have been impossible without Raava's power backing her up. Right now, Korra still has no idea whether or not what she's trying is possible, she's just learned not to let seeming impossibility bother her.

As the earth around her hands compacts, hardening into rock, the water buried inside it responds to Korra's command and _expands_ , becomes crystalline, becomes veins of ice running like fault lines through the stone. It cracks, and with a roar Korra pulls her hands free and hurls herself to one side, uprooting her feet.

Korra rolls and springs to her feet facing behind her. She finds herself near the edge of the lawn, with her back to the trench. Sulphur dioxide threatens to overwhelm her nostrils and an ominous heat begins to slowly bake her back.

Of more immediate concern is the tall man with the dark moustache about twenty feet away, moving through a series of earthbending stances. Of _most_ immediate concern are the half dozen fist-sized rocks flying at Korra's body.

Korra moves into an earthbending stance of her own and throws a series of swift jabs at the air, directing a burst of her power at each of the rocks, just enough to deflect each of them away from her. At least, that's the plan, and it works on the first five rocks. The sixth, though, changes mid flight, igniting from within, glowing with a sullen orange heat, and suddenly Korra's control slides off of it, because it isn’t earth anymore, it’s something else.

With a yell, Korra hurls up her hands, summoning a huge gust of wind that blasts out in front of her like the world's smallest hurricane. The small sphere of lava is hurled back, but it abruptly changes direction, hissing through the air, trailing sparks and heat haze, until it comes to a stop above the palm of the earthbender.

“Oh, crap,” Korra whispers, stumbling back a step in reaction to her own panicked bending. Maybe it's just her imagination, but it seems like the ground beneath her feet is warm, and the air on her back is _scorching_. “This is _not_ good.”

The tall man strides towards her, his hands rising up over the sphere, which expands and flattens out into a spinning disc of searing, semi-molten rock. “Well, I guess this version of you can't lavabend. Zaheer called it. Though you do seem a bit sharper than he said you'd be.”

Korra grits her teeth. “ _Okay, so you're Red Lotus. And Zaheer's your...not friend. Does he have friends? He doesn't seem like the type to make friends. A bit too...sinister? Evil? Oh, I know! Utterly devoid of personality!_ ”

To her surprise, the tall man just chuckles. He advances on her, closing the distance slowly, the lava disc between his hands a threat, the lava at Korra's back a promise. “I can see where it might look that way, Raava. But you're missing important context.”

“ _Not Raava!_ ” Korra licks her very dry lips behind her scarf. She edges to her right, trying to open some distance between her and Moustache, trying to get away from the trench full of lava behind her. “ _And I could use some context, yeah. Maybe tell me the whole Red Lotus master plan?_ ”

“Hmm, well first, not-Raava, I'm Ghazan. You are…?”

“ _I'm the Blue Spirit._ ” Korra begins to circle away from the trench, moving slowly, maintaining her balance, getting her breathing under control. “ _I think it's been in one or two of the papers?_ "

“You should just tell me your name,” Ghazan. He thrusts his hands out and the disc of lava shoots towards Korra, forcing her to dodge to her left, bringing her closer than ever to the trench. “You can't hide from this. This isn't destiny, you see, it's resolute purpose. It's revolution. It's overthrowing oppression. Your oppression. We have waited, we have planned, and we are finally ready. You can't stop this.”

Kyoshi steps into Korra's field of vision. “Watch his bending closely. His technique is...what is the phrase? Ah, yes: textbook.”

“Not sure this is the time to tell me how much better he is at this, Kyoshi!”

Kyoshi snorts. “Watch his bending, Korra. _Focus_.”

Aang appears at Korra's other side. “Don’t forget to focus on not walking into lava, too!”

Korra wishes she had the time to glare at him. Instead she says to Ghazan, “ _Nice speech. I still haven't heard any kind of plan, though. Or any context? And for the record, I'm pretty sure I've never oppressed anyone. You Red Lotus guys, though...you’ve committed theft, arson, kidnapping, attempted murder, actual murder, and you’re all just generally horrible people._ ”

“Hey, we've just met! I think I've been pretty polite so far.”

Korra rolls her eyes. “ _You have a building full of hostages! That is classic horrible person behaviour! Being polite doesn't excuse that!_ "

“Fair enough,” Ghazan says, shrugging. He stomps his foot suddenly, causing the ground to shudder, and he sends his lava disc spinning towards Korra, forcing her to dodge left, right, and ultimately _back_. “You want to know the big plan? It's pretty simple. We're going to bring bending back into the world, return it to all the people you stole it from.”

Korra stares at him. He stares back, smiling and relaxed. “ _...that is not the whole plan. Uh, is it?_ ”

“What if it was?”

“ _I'd ask why it takes so much violence, so much chaos? Why do you have to hurt people you supposedly want to help?_ ”

Ghazan shakes his head. “I could give you a whole speech, but that's honestly more Zaheer's thing. I guess the _whole_ plan is to give everyone their bending back _eventually_. You know, after we've made sure there aren't any coercive governments in place to take advantage of the new benders in the populace.”

“ _Wha...how would you even do something like that?_ ”

Ghazan blinks. Then his hands blur and the lavadisc whirls out and Korra has to duck and roll to the side and end up another half pace closer to the lava.

“ _Right. Yeah. Stupid question._ ”

“Kind of. But not completely. We’re going to--”

“ _Use the Lion-Turtles to bring back bending, but it only works in a limited way, right? Zaheer can airbend and you can earthbend, because you found the second Lion-Turtle already._ ”

“Hey, not bad! We’ve had that one for years. All we were missing was a key, which very recently came into our possession.”

And just like that, Korra gets what Kyoshi was talking about when she told Korra to focus on Ghazan’s bending.

“ _You aren’t art thieves, but all the things you stole...books, painting, tapestries? You were stealing, what? Guides to the bending forms? You’ve been in training for...for years, haven’t you? That’s why even though you just got these powers, you’re so...uh, powerful._ ”

Ghazan tilts his head, his eyes narrowing as he studies her. “Art theft also helps with bankrolling the organisation. But, yeah pretty much. Y’know...Zaheer underestimated you. That’s rare.”

“ _Really? I thought the lack of empathy thing would make it pretty frequent._ ”

“Heh. He said you were bullheaded, aggressive, but soft-hearted. I’m hoping for the sake of all the nice kids in there that the last one is true, and that you’re as smart as you seem to be.”

Korra hesitates. She’s torn between wanting to take action now that she has an idea of what one of Ghazan’s weaknesses might be and finding out as much as she can before the fighting starts. She doesn’t want to risk a glance behind her, but she doesn’t think she particularly needs to. She can _feel_ the heat boiling the sweat off the back of her neck. She can’t afford to retreat much further. She has to take action soon.

But maybe not quite yet.

Ghazan raises his hands, but before he can unleash the lavadisc, Korra blurts, “ _What do I have to do? To get you to let them go? You’re right, I can’t lavabend, and I’m at least smart enough to know that taking you out still leaves all that lava to deal with. So what’s the deal?_

Ghazan lowers his hands, the disc still in motion between them, like the world’s most hardcore fidget spinner. “You’re right about the Lion-Turtles. Two down, two to go. It won’t be long before we have the last of them, Blue Spirit. But you’re right that we need something else to open things all the way up, restore bending to everyone. Give people back the power they always should have had. We need one final key.”

“ _Raava_ ,” Korra says softly.

There’s sweat on her brow, and while she’s worried about what might happen if she wipes it away and loses sight of Ghazan for even a fraction of a second, she’s also worried about what’s going to happen when sweat gets in her eyes and she loses sight of Ghazan for a fraction of a second.

“Yeah. But it has to be done to our timetable, our plan. Because...well, look at how the police treat you. Can you imagine what would happen to all the people who got their powers, who didn’t know how to use them, under the governments of the day? They’ll crack down, try to take control, any way they can.”

“ _And your answer is to...what? Use your bending to attack innocent people? How does that help?_ ”

“It doesn’t, particularly. But I had to get your attention somehow.” Ghazan smiles, almost sheepishly. “It’s really for the best if you surrender to me, you know. You’ll sleep through the bad parts, until we need you. And once it’s done, once everyone’s bending has been restored, we won’t have need of you anymore. You’ll be...free.”

Kyoshi snorts. “Do I need to point out how indirect his language has become?”

“Nope,” Korra murmurs. “He’s clearly being evasive here, which means we’ve entered pants on fire territory.”

Aang nods, the motion just visible in the corner of Korra’s eye. “Yeah, I think that going with them will not end well for you, Korra. That’s my expert opinion, based on my memories of having a building dropped on me.”

“Yeah. Problem is...I think I believe him about a lot of the other stuff.”

Unaware of Korra’s conversation with the ghosts, Ghazan is still trying to cajole her. “You’ll be fixing a huge injustice. The world will thank you. Those kids in there, they’ll thank you. Surrendering is the only way you’re going to save them.”

“ _Two things bug me here, moustache guy._ ”

He narrows his eyes further, and his muscles tense. “Ghazan. I thought we were being polite?”

“ _Yeah, see, you took hostages. I don’t feel like you deserve politeness. First thing is, if what you say is true, then some earlier...Blue Spirit somehow took everyone’s bending away. Why?_ ”

“Why does a tyrant do anything? To increase their power.”

“ _Mmm, that would be more compelling coming from someone else, moustache boy. If my predecessor took bending away, there was a reason. I think I’d like to know more about why before I agreed to give it back._ ”

Ghazan’s face twists in anger. “It is not your decision. Bending doesn't belong to you! Everyone should have a chance to have this power!”

“ _Apart from people in government? Or the police? Or anyone else you decide you don’t like?_ ”

Ghazan shakes his head angrily. When he does, Korra quickly flicks the sweat from her brow. Ghazan snarls, “We seek a level playing field, that’s all. Sometimes you have to tear down the old before you can build something new. Something _better_.”

“ _Anything someone like Zaheer is involved in isn’t going to be better. Second thing._ ” Korra slides her feet into a new alignment. She can feel the earth beneath her, lending her strength, lending her stability. “ _Who says giving up is the only way to save those kids? I’m the Blue Spirit, Ghazan. Saving people is what I do._ ”

“That’s a pity. I was hoping we could do this…” Suddenly, Ghazan laughs. “Ah, you know what? I’m glad, to be honest. I was hoping I’d get a chance to test myself against you. I’ve been studying earthbending for twenty years, but I’ve only been able to actually _do it_ for two weeks. This should be fu--agh!”

Korra doesn’t wait for him to finish speaking. Ghazan isn’t fighting fair. If she’s going to win, Korra can’t afford to either. So while he’s distracted, Korra taps her foot, causing a mound of earth to rise directly beneath Ghazan’s feet.

It isn’t a violent feat of earthbending. Korra’s pretty good with metal, but she’s still figuring out a lot of the basics of earth, and she finds that the more dramatic the act of bending, the more dramatic the gesture she needs to make it happen.

So all she does is knock Ghazan off balance for a second, but a second is a long time in a fight, and Korra uses it to sprint forward, right at Ghazan. It also takes her away from the lava trench, because Korra knows that one of the other important considerations in any fight is this: _not_ falling into a lava trench.

Ghazan recovers more quickly than Korra would like, but his eyes widen when he realises that she's charging straight at him. He moves swiftly into an earthbending stance, his hands flowing into the patterns needed to send his lavadisc spinning.

Korra throws out her hand, hurling an unfocused blast of air at him, making him stagger, making him lose his stance.

Because that's the thing Kyoshi was trying to tell her about Ghazan: he might have mastered one of the most lethal arts of bending, but his mastery is based on learning techniques out of the bending equivalent of _textbooks_. He hasn't learned how to move the elements through will and instinct, how to work _without_ formal stances, how to take _shortcuts_.

Korra's elemental manipulation might be lacking in polish, but she's spent her entire career as the Blue Spirit learning how to do the impossible on the fly. So she uses air to bash at Ghazan, she uses earth to make his footing unsteady, she denies him any chance to set his lavadisc in motion. Korra can't set up for a knockdown attack, but she's able to close the distance while preventing him from doing much of anything at all.

With a snarl, Ghazan lets his concentration lapse and the disc falls to the lawn, losing its shape and some of the intensity of its heat. The grass still shrivels around the cooling lava, and little puffs of steam rise up. Ghazan shifts stance, lifts his foot and stamps down.

The ground suddenly shifts, a projection of compacted earth spearing out of the dirt directly beneath Korra's feet. The stiff formality of Ghazan's movements are the only warning Korra gets, but it's enough this time. Korra shifts her balance forward, gets both feet under her and flexes her knees. When the earth pushes her up into the air, Korra pushes off with her legs, launching herself forward. She tucks herself into a ball, turns a half somersault, and kicks out with both feet, generating a massive air blast that knocks Ghazan several yards back and sends him tumbling down.

Because another rule of this fight is: keep the lavabender away from the trench full of lava.

Ghazan slams into the gouged, muddy surface of the lawn. Several lumps of earth he was trying to bend drop around him. Korra spins in reaction to her own bending and manages to land in a crouch, one hand in the mud to balance her.

Korra pushes off, rushing Ghazan. Ghazan grunts, sweeping his hands through the mud, creating shallow fissures in the surface of the lawn, running out from the tips of his fingers in jagged lines between him and Korra. At first, she thinks he's trying to trip her up. Too late, she realises he has something else in mind. 

Lava bursts out of the fissures in a series of miniature eruptions, none more than a foot high. One burst washes over Korra's left leg, instantly igniting her pants and scorching her shoe.

"Oh, crap!"

Korra leaps, bending air to carry her above the spurts of lava Ghazan commands as he slowly manoeuvers himself from a prone position into a crouch. Korra lands awkwardly in a patch of grass, rolls to smother the fire on her leg, and kicks and scrabbles her way frantically out of her melting sneaker.

She doesn't have time to kick off her other shoe. Ghazan rises out of his crouch, reaching out with both hands. He summons two separate streams of lava near him and flicks his wrists, turning the molten out into a pair of viscous, whip-like strands. His brow furrowed in concentration he sets the whips into motion, lashing first one at Korra's head, then the other at her feet.

Korra slaps her hands against the earth, summoning a chest high barrier of hardened mud which she ducks behind. The lava whip aimed at her feet slams into the barrier, which immediately begins to glow with heat. The other hisses through the air above her, causing a shower of sparks to rain down on her.

"Move, Korra!" she tells herself, getting her legs under her and darting out of cover a fraction of a second before one of Ghazan's whips arcs overhead, slapping against the top of her barricade and wrapping round it, slicing through the space that Korra just left.

As she scrambles to her feet, Korra's eyes are watering, her mouth is dry, her nostrils are full of the scent of sulphur dioxide, and fatigue toxins announce themselves in her gasping breaths, in the tremor of her limbs. The only part of her that feels cools is her left foot, which rests in mud that is becoming grey with ash.

It's been a long night, after a long day, after a long few months, and Korra's earlier strength is neither ghost, nor memory, but something even more remote: it feels like a myth.

Ghazan stands tall, his hands and feet perfectly aligned, his lava whips ready to move at the command of his fingers. He tilts his head, studying her. "You look tired, Blue Spirit. I thought you were going to make this _interesting_."

His right hand moves and a whip slices at Korra, shimmering with heat haze, making the air crack and crackle. Korra dodges to her right, barely avoiding it, and entirely unable to avoid being herded nearer the lava trench again.

Ghazan meets her eyes and nods. "This is over, scarf girl. Good effort, but drawing this out only leads to you suffering."

Korra flicks a glance to her left, but the quad is still and empty. Her barrier of hardened earth collapses in on itself, reduced to mud and ash by Ghazan's lava whip. Korra glances to her right, and...pressed to the windows of the hall, behind the heat haze of the lava that surrounds it, the trapped students, young men and women, watch the battle.

They aren't so far off, or so obscured, that Korra can't see the fear on their faces.

She grits her teeth.

Aang appears at her side. "There are times to fight, and times to retreat, Korra."

Kyoshi appears at her other side. "This is _not_ over!"

Ghazan cracks one of his whips, forcing Korra to dodge to her right, nearer the trench.

"I agree," Aang says, calm and full of conviction. "You can beat him, Korra. He's strong, but he has limits. You are capable of so much more than him!"

Korra swallows. "You know he didn't come here alone. He's too confident for that. Maybe if I can bring that statue into play, maybe if I push myself with firebending, maybe I can beat him. But I don't have any water. He has a _lot_ of earth and stone to use. So, do you think I can beat Ghazan, stop his allies, _and_ save all those people in that hall?"

Aang is silent. 

Korra nods. She flinches back from another stroke of one of Ghazan's whips. She hurls air at him, knocking him off balance, but Ghazan retreats out of Korra's effective striking range, pouring more lava into his whips, making sure that Korra is still within _his_ striking range.

Wearily, Aang says, "If something doesn't change, if you can't change the flow of this fight...I don't know if you can save them, Korra."

Korra licks her dry lips, finding them cracked. "That's what I thought..."

Softly, almost hesitantly, Kyoshi says, "You _do_ have water, Korra. But you'll have to--"

While Korra is familiar with the fact that Kyoshi cannot be shushed, sometimes, she _can_ be interrupted. In this case, Korra becomes aware of a rumbling in the ground through her bare foot, as if something very big and very powerful were coming closer.

She isn't sure what's coming, but she hopes, if nothing else, it'll help throw Ghazan off balance.

" _Hey! About that surrendering thing?_ "

"Oh?" Ghazan moves his hands, making the lava whips writhe, sending sparks floating up into the night and causing ash to come drifting back down. "Finally seeing sense?"

Korra coughs out a laugh. " _My life hasn't made sense in a long time. I'm way past making sensible decisions. No, what I see is..._ "

And Korra trails off there because she _does_ see something. Something very large, and very powerful, barrelling towards them.

Korra gasps, " _I see that this a long way from over!_ "

Because what Korra sees is a Republic City fire engine, zooming towards the open end of the quad.

And at the wheel of the fire engine, Korra sees Asami Sato.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guess what?
> 
> HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!
> 
> We've been Blue Spiriting for exactly one whole year now! 245 of you are subscribed to this fic! (!?!!?) We broke 900 kudos last update! (????!??!??) There are over 800 comments on here! (?!!...well, okay, I wrote half of those...THAT'S STILL A LOT OF COMMENTS, GUYS!) Over 100 bookmarks!
> 
> That's a lot of numbers! Thanks to every single one of you for contributing to them! Thanks for reading, thanks for trying this fic out, and thanks for sticking with it this long!
> 
> With this chapter, we've reached the end of season one. Which is, er, maybe halfway through act 2? Which means we're maybe halfway on this fic?
> 
> Which means there's still a long way to go!
> 
> And I'm very excited for what's to come, but you know what else the end of season one means?
> 
> HIAAAAATUSSSSS!
> 
> It is that time again. I'm going to be taking a break from all things Blue Spirit for the rest of the year. Because it's been a heck of a year on this fic, but it's also been tiring, and I need a blue Spirit break. So we'll be picking back up again in late January.
> 
> I know that's a ways off, but while I'm breaking from Blue Spirit things, I will have a lot of other Korrasami stories coming out in the coming months, things I'm excited to write and for you to read.
> 
> For now, I'll end this very long note with one last thanks for making this fic so special.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Okay...it's our anniversary! Let's get each other comments!


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